From a new Rambla in El Raval to beach railings: Barcelona's participatory budgets already have winners.

BarcelonaThe small portion of Barcelona's budget directly decided by residents has already been allocated. This Monday, City Council announced the results of the second round of participatory budgeting, in which Barcelona residents selected the 76 projects to which the council will allocate a total of €30 million. The list is distributed across the city's ten districts and includes initiatives aimed at improving squares and streets, as well as schools and city amenities, among others. Here

Among the selected projects are the remodeling of Rambla del Raval and the adjacent Plaza Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Plaza Salvador Seguí in Ciutat Vella; the improvement and restoration of the Torre Girona Gardens—which were controversial last Christmas due to the celebration of the Christmas light festival Nature On–; the transformation of the Central Park and the Plaza Mayor in Nou Barris; the improvement of children's areas and squares in the Bordeta district; and the installation of railings on the beaches to facilitate access to the water for the elderly or those with reduced mobility.

Many sports organizations have also taken advantage of these participatory budgets to demand improvements to their facilities. This is the case, for example, of Club Deportivo Europa, whose request to renovate and adapt the changing rooms at Nou Sardenya received the most votes in the Gràcia district. Also in Horta-Guinardó, Fútbol Club Martinenc received the most votes in the district for its initiative to cover the football pitch stands and protect fans from the sun and rain.

Participatory budgets will also involve the construction of pending facilities and the improvement of existing ones. This is the case, for example, of the future Canòdrom sports center in Sant Andreu or the renovation of the Can Dragó athletics track. Also benefiting from these thirty million euros are the Guinardó Mercè Rodoreda library; the Madrid Adult Education Center in the Porta neighborhood; and the Sant Martí Civic Center.

Schools and youth facilities

Another of the groups that has been most involved in participatory budgeting is schools. In every district, there are projects aimed at improving school facilities and playgrounds. Many associations, youth centers, and leisure spaces have also been mobilized, requesting improvements to the centers where they work or, directly, a new space in which to develop.

This is the case of the residents of Eixample, who have chosen as their first option the creation of a self-managed youth space in the Sagrada Família neighborhood, which would house several neighborhood organizations that until now did not have their own space. Although, as things stand, explain the NOWMany of the proposals for new bike lanes were left out of the participatory budgeting process from the very beginning, but some projects did ultimately move forward. This is the case of the proposal to extend the bike lane on Travessera de les Corts between Joan Güell and Numancia streets, or the one promoting a segregated bike lane on the Sant Antoni ring road between Casanova street and Universitat square.

They have also pushed forward other smaller projects, such as the creation of new pedestrian crossings—on Bailén and Urgell streets, for example—or the improvement of lighting in certain areas of the city, as well as more unusual projects such as the shelter for community cats, which has made it into the top-voted initiatives in Sant Mar.

The second round

The Councilor for Education, Pla de Barris, Senior Citizens, and Participation, Lluís Rabell, celebrated the participation in this year's participatory budgets—48,796 people, compared to 39,443 four years ago—and explained that the next step will be to establish committees to monitor the implementation of the projects in each of the ten districts. When asked about the timescales, he admitted that "there are simpler projects and others more complicated," but was confident that most will be started by the end of the term.

Regarding the projects that, despite having garnered significant support, were not selected, Rabell explained that the districts will now carefully list the votes for the projects so that those not voted for can be collected from other areas of the City Council.

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