Tarifa approves 2026/2027 Economic-Financial Plan after failing to comply with the spending rule

The Plenary of the Tarifa City Council approved in its ordinary session on July 30, 2026, the modification of the 2026/2027 Economic-Financial Plan, prepared by the Comptroller’s Office. The measure responds to the breach of the spending rule detected in the settlement of the 2025 budget, with a discrepancy of 130,243.62 euros. The agreement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz number 162, dated August 24, 2026 (reference No. 265,974).

Through Presidency Resolution number 1796/2026, dated March 30, 2026, the settlement of the 2025 Municipal Budget was approved, accompanied by the technical report from the General Comptroller dated March 31, 2026, regarding budgetary stability, the spending rule, and the debt limit. The report highlighted the breach of the spending rule, which was reported to the Plenary on April 24, 2026. The computable expenditure for 2025 amounted to 23,484,106.19 euros, a growth of 4.02%, which is higher than the permitted limit of 3.2%, resulting in the aforementioned breach.

A cyclical breach, not structural

The plan concludes that the breach is cyclical rather than structural. The City Council complies with budgetary stability, with a consolidated financing capacity of 3,268,675.66 euros, and the treasury surplus for general expenses for 2025 amounts to 10,214,125.15 euros. The entities that make up the general budget are:

• The Tarifa City Council.
• The Youth Board Autonomous Body.
• The public company URTASA S.A.

Causes of the breach

The plan identifies two main causes for the discrepancy:

• In the Youth Board, the payment of a court ruling amounting to 73,544.10 euros and the co-financing of the Orienta 2025 program.
• In the public company URTASA, the increase in operating expenses, specifically taxes, which exceeded those of the 2024 financial year by 147,483.05 euros, referring to the fee for the removal of invasive algae.

Measures and guarantee of compliance

The objective of the plan is to balance and stabilize the economic capacity of the City Council in the following financial years, complying with the Organic Law on Budgetary Stability and Financial Sustainability. The measures focus on controlling the execution of the 2026 and 2027 budgets within the permitted percentages. With GDP reference rates of 3.5% for 2026 and 3.4% for 2027, the plan verifies compliance with the spending rule in both financial years, with a consolidated margin of 151,710.60 euros in 2026 and 36,373.61 euros in 2027.

The approval of the plan allows Tarifa to stabilize its accounts and avoid the consequences of a sustained breach of fiscal rules, which would force the adoption of more severe recovery measures. The document will be submitted to the National Commission for Local Administration and will receive the same publicity as the municipal budgets. The agreement is signed by the mayor-president, José Antonio Santos Perea, and the acting general secretary, Francisco Antonio Ruiz Romero.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz, number 162, of August 24, 2026, local administration section (official reference: No. 265.974).