A sports center or a cat shelter? Barcelona residents decide what to do with €30 million.

BarcelonaFrom this Monday until Saturday afternoon, Barcelona residents are called to a crucial vote. At stake is the €30 million prize in this year's participatory budget, funds that the 239 projects that have reached the final phase are seeking. On the table are proposals ranging from more kilometers of bike lanes to improving parks, gardens, and squares, through to the construction or renovation of sports facilities and the creation of new community spaces in neighborhoods.

A glance at the finalist proposals reveals some of this year's citizen priorities. In Ciutat Vella, requests for improvements related to schools and their surrounding areas predominate, but there is also room for reforms in some of the district's main thoroughfares, such as Rambla del Raval and Passeig Lluís Companys. In Nou Barris, improving public space is also a priority, with requests to intervene in Plaça Virrei Amat, Plaça Mayor, and Parc Central.

In the Eixample district, however, proposals for new bike lanes are prominent, including one connecting Plaça Urquinaona and Plaça Universitat via Plaça Catalunya. This proposal was already one of the winners in the previous edition of the participatory budget, but the municipal government ultimately rejected it due to "technical difficulties."

In this district, there are also proposals to improve emblematic spaces such as the Torre de les Aigües gardens or to create a self-managed youth space at the Sagrada Família, one of the most voted-for projects in the first phase and which aims to end the chronic lack of facilities in the neighborhood. Residents of Sants-Montjuïc are also calling for a space for children and young people in the old Can Cervera farmhouse, while in the Horta-Guinardó district, residents of Carmel are requesting the acquisition of a space for the neighborhood's two leisure organizations.

Sports facilities are another of the main demands of this edition, with demands for improvements or even for new sports centers in all districts. This is the case in Sant Martí, where there are calls for improvements to the La Palmera sports center, and in Sant Andreu, where one of the most voted-for options in the first phase—the Canòdrom sports center—aims to also be included in the list of definitively selected projects.

The field of parks and gardens also has its place in these participatory budgets. For example, the petition to Les Corts to recover the Historic Gardens of Torre Girona and its biodiversity stands out, which have been news for the neighborhood mobilization against holding a Christmas light show. The proposal also calls for a study of ways to increase the presence of squirrels in the park. And without straying from the realm of urban wildlife, a shelter for community cats is also being called for in Sant Martí.

A maximum number of votes and a limited budget

Barcelona residents over the age of 14 who wish to do so can vote until Saturday through the platform Decidim.barcelonaThey will be able to choose between projects from their district and those from a second district of their choice. Within these districts, they can vote for at least two projects and as many as possible within the budget allocated to each district, between €2 and €3.8 million.