Barcelona's budget exceeds €4 billion for the first time
Valls is confident of reaching an agreement with the groups but admits that if necessary they will resort to the question of confidence.
BarcelonaThe mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, is facing his third attempt to pass a budget through ordinary channels. So far, he has been able to pass one—the 2024 budget—through a vote of confidence, but has had to extend the other. To secure the support of the political groups in the plenary session this time, his fourth deputy mayor, Jordi Valls, presented record-breaking accounts, exceeding €4 billion for the first time. Specifically, the draft budget released this Thursday amounts to €4.18 billion, and, as Valls explained, is focused on "people, housing, and security."
With this letter of introduction, the PSC government will now attempt to secure the support of the opposition groups to push through the budgets. The municipal government's intention is to hold the initial debate—which allows the budgets to continue being processed—next week in an extraordinary Economic Commission. Although Valls expressed confidence in obtaining the opposition's support—"Political fragmentation exists, but a City Council needs to have a budget," he said—he also noted that if necessary, they will use the vote of confidence again.
For now, two of the potential partners in the municipal government have already distanced themselves from the executive. The leader of Barcelona en Común on the council, Janet Sanz, criticized the fact that the accounts are being presented "without a majority and without speaking to the opposition." In any case, Sanz has set two conditions for negotiating the accounts: approval of the legal change to prohibit seasonal rentals and a halt to the planned evictions in Vallcarca that affect minors. From Junts, councilor Arnau Vives opined that the municipal government is giving up the 2026 budget "for lost" by not "giving any room for negotiation," and denounced the fact that they maintain an "extremely high" tax burden.
239 million in housing
However, in an attempt to convince the groups, Valls presented a budget in which housing policy is "central." The accounts project the allocation of €239 million. Of this, €84 million are for the development and management of public housing, €50 million for renovation funds, €20 million for a fund to exercise preemption and redemption rights, €25 million to free up land for new developments in La Sagrera, and €38 million for aid or subsidies, such as a €6 million rental assistance line.
Valls also emphasized two aspects that have been important in previous budget negotiations. He explained that within the €266.9 million allocated to promoting public transport, there are resources planned for the City Council to maintain its contribution—approximately €50 million—to subsidize ATM transport tickets, as well as an allocation to cover the tender for the tram connection along Diagonal. This item was already included in last year's accounts, which were not approved. Valls also added that the accounts plan to expand Bicing with 1,000 new electric bicycles.
Beyond housing, regarding the other two priorities that the municipal government says these budgets have, the accounts forecast spending of almost €1 billion (€994.9 million) on personal care, which includes everything related to social services, schools, etc. In the area of security, the Collboni government forecasts spending of €430.6 million, which should be used to recruit 100 new Guardia Urbana officers and advance the goal of installing more cameras in the city.
The impact of the latest tax ordinances
Unlike the previous two academic years, this time the municipal government has not introduced major changes to the tax ordinances. It is confident, however, that it will be able to increase the tourist surcharge by one euro once Parliament approves the government decree-law that endorses it. Valls emphasized that these ordinances do not impact the taxation of families or small and medium-sized businesses, and highlighted that they provide a 95 percent discount on the tax on construction, installations, and works for urban regeneration projects.
However, the increase in this year's budget cannot be explained without the tax changes that the City Council has implemented in recent years. Along with the increase in the advance payment of the State's share of taxes through the PIE (Spanish Tax and Expenditure Plan), the increases in taxes and fees approved in previous years are behind the accounts exceeding €4 billion for the first time. These figures allow the council to forecast an investment of 753 million euros, which will rise to 861.8 million euros when adding the 56 million euros in the projects that will be directly undertaken by the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation (IMHAB), the 41.2 million euros that will be invested, and 11.6 million euros from other municipal entities.
