Sitges approves the grant guidelines to boost the restaurant and hospitality sectors

The Sitges City Council has definitively approved the regulatory bases for subsidies destined for associations in the restaurant and hospitality sector to develop projects and activities for the revitalization of the sector. The text is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona (BOPB) on September 23, 2026, with the official reference CVE 202610141433 and a length of 27 pages. The grant will be made through a public call under a competitive bidding process.

The Plenary of the Sitges City Council, in an ordinary session on June 25, 2026, initially approved these bases. Once submitted for public information for thirty days —a period that ended on September 2, 2026— and without any allegations or claims having been filed, the bases are definitively approved without the need for any further formalities. The edict was electronically signed by the mayor Aurora Carbonell i Abella on September 16, 2026.

The bases were drafted by the Department of Tourism, which also assumes the instruction of the procedure. According to article 8.2 of the General Subsidy Ordinance of the Sitges City Council, the Plenary is responsible for the approval of the regulatory bases and the Local Government Board for the approval of the call. The text is framed within the Sustainable Development Goals 8, 10, 11, and 12 of the 2030 Agenda.

Object and purposes of the grants

The object is to regulate the conditions, the application procedure, the granting, and the justification of subsidies for revitalization and economic development projects and activities carried out within the municipal district of Sitges. The declared purpose is:

• To promote promotion and revitalization actions for the restaurant and hospitality sector in the town.
• To improve the business fabric of urban restaurants and hospitality.
• To encourage the attraction and loyalty of clientele.
• To promote the associative fabric and the professionalization of sector associations.
• To work towards social, economic, and territorial cohesion and the sustainability of the territory.

Requirements and exclusions

Private associations created to represent restaurateurs and hospitality operators in the municipality, legally constituted and registered in the Entities Registry of the Sitges City Council, with a permanent headquarters or representative in Sitges and up to date with tax and Social Security obligations, may apply for the grants. The following are excluded:

• Federations of entities and associations.
• Entities with a supra-municipal scope.
• Private associations dedicated to the self-supply and distribution of products among members.
• Associations of a political nature.
• Entities that already have a direct grant planned in the current budget.

No entity may receive subsidies from other municipal departments to finance the same project.

Criteria, amounts and deadlines

The evaluation is based on 100 points, with a minimum score of 45 points to be declared a beneficiary. The main criteria are the capacity and experience of the association (15 points), the technical quality of the documentation (15), novelty and innovation (15), the degree of economic participation of the entity (15), and the efficiency and impact of the project (15); the table is completed by joint initiatives with other sectors, complementarity with tourism promotion, the number of members, their increase, and solidarity campaigns, with 5 points each.

The Sitges City Council will finance a maximum of 65% of the project cost, and the remainder must be provided by the requesting entity. Payment will be made in two installments: an advance of 80% and the remaining 20% once the expenses have been justified. Subcontracting of the activity is permitted up to a maximum of 80% of the total cost.

The deadline for submitting applications will be that fixed by the call, starting from the day after its publication, and late requests will not be admitted. The actions must be executed within the budget year of the call, between January 1 and December 31, and the justification may be submitted up to the last day of February of the following year. Beneficiary entities will have 15 business days to accept or waive the grant.

The rules will enter into force the day after their publication in the BOPB, the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the notice board of the municipal electronic headquarters, and will remain in effect until the City Council decides to modify or repeal them. An appeal for reversal may be filed against the resolution within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal within two months.

With these rules, the council opens the way for catering and hospitality associations in Sitges to finance campaigns, events, training, and market studies with municipal funds, a line that adds to the call already approved for merchants’ associations. The sector thus has a stable and multi-annual framework to present revitalization projects, although the specific amounts will still have to be fixed in each call.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona, September 23, 2026, Local Administration (Tourism), pp. 1-27 (official reference: CVE 202610141433).