200 million euros a year for poor neighborhoods: the Catalan government's plan inspired by the tripartite coalition

Vilanova i la GeltrúThe first measure approved by Salvador Illa's government in August 2024 was the creation of the Neighborhood Law Commissioner. The choice was no coincidence: the initiative revived the thread of the tripartite governments and, according to the Socialists, allowed them to get to the root of inequality by acting on the ground in degraded and unsafe areas in the cities and towns of Catalonia. Nine months later, the government is putting numbers to what it wants to be one of its flagship measures, the Barris Plan 2025-2029. The president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, announced this Monday that €1.6 billion will be invested over five years to transform up to 100 neighborhoods below the average income in Catalonia. "There are neighborhoods where, if we don't reach an agreement and implement comprehensive action and concentrate resources, we won't get ahead. They require an emergency plan," the president warned. The first call for proposals will be funded from the 2026 budget, as the government failed to approve the accounts this year, and will be launched in July. It proposes three lines of action: rehabilitation of housing and public spaces, adaptation of buildings to climate change, and social action. Projects are planned for a decade to remake streets, create new green areas, and enable new facilities in the poorest Catalan neighborhoods.

The new plan was presented at an event with local leaders in Vilanova i la Geltrú, in an auditorium built following the 2004 neighborhood law. Isla highlighted the "transformative effects" that the investments will have at a time of "change," with the economic impacts of conflicts. "In the end, all of this finds a place where it materializes, which is in the neighborhoods," he warned. The president recalled that the implementation of the law was also a commitment signed with ERC and Comuns upon his investiture: "The Government keeps its promises," he emphasized. Politically, the Catalan government admits that restoring degraded neighborhoods and historic centers is a way to combat the rise of the far right. This has also been emphasized by the president of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia and mayor of Mataró, David Bote, who has an example in his city. How Vox has exploited violent incidents to campaign against immigration.

In total, the Generalitat is expected to award 200 million euros annually, which will be added to those coming from the municipal coffers, around 600 in total between the five calls (one per year). The aid will be allocated on a competitive basis and each City Council will only be able to 00. Initiatives with a budget of between 6 million and 25 million euros, while for those with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants the range will be 3 to 12.5 million. "flexible", to adapt to the needs of each council, whether large or small, which will also be offered lines of aid to hire staff to draft the projects.

How do you pay?

Although a joint committee between the Generalitat and the local community will decide to allocate the grants, it will be guaranteed that there is at least one project funded by the Neighborhood Law for each district. It will be up to the local councils to define the area they want to work in (which can encompass more than one neighborhood if they are on the same page) and propose what they want to be done. The range of measures eligible for funding is very broad: from improving street lighting to building a daycare center or a music school. "The Neighborhood Law brings improvements to the territories as a whole, to specific areas that must be continuous, where it is only fair to increase income and opportunities," said the regional minister for Territory, Silvia Paneque.

But how will the Neighborhood Plan be paid for? The specter of the abrupt end of the second tripartite government's Pla de Barris (Barriers' Plan) looms over the new project, which will be specified in a decree that the government will approve at the end of June. With the economic crisis, the works ran out of funding. They were halted at €1.123 billion due to a lack of resources, after seven calls for proposals, and the mayors were left holding the bag.

The winds of the Catalan economy are now blowing in their favor, but the Catalan government is in the minority and is not guaranteed a budget for next year after having already failed to approve this year's. The 2026 budget should include the items from the first call for proposals, which will be resolved on December 15, 2025. While the executive admits that it is at the mercy of budget negotiations with the groups, government sources clarify that they have ways of seeking resources if new accounts ultimately fail, for example, reprioritizing spending or adding credit.