At least 100,000 euros in each of the 310 municipalities – Catalan capital excluded, as they have their own agreement – that make up the province of Barcelona. This is the investment commitment through the general investment program (PGI) that the Provincial Council approved this Thursday. In total, 260 million will be distributed throughout the territory. In this way, the provincial administration maintains the pace of its financing to localities and decentralized municipal entities. And these 260 million for the period 2024-2027 are the same amount that was designated for the previous PGI.
The plenary session of the Provincial Council approved the program with the favorable vote of all political groups except for Vox, which chose to abstain.
“The PGI is one of the most important instruments of the Provincial Council to support local autonomy,” considered the president of the institution, Lluïsa Moret. The mayor of Sant Boi de Llobregat also explained that this mandate was approved earlier than on other occasions so that the municipalities "can enjoy these resources first-hand and work on the investments they have planned."
The fundamental objectives, Lluïsa Moret said, are two: “Improve the conditions of public space and, above all, fundamental instruments for the daily life of the neighborhoods and towns in our district, such as the facilities.”
This program serves to help municipalities finance their own projects, which can be up to five in towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants. In this sense, this time administrative procedures were simplified and made more flexible. “It is a historic demand from the mayors,” remarked the president of the Provincial Council. The aid application period was also extended.
80% of the financing that local governments will receive “will be allocated to sustainable projects”, while 20% will be to finance “general investment spending”.
The distribution of aid was established using different criteria, such as the size of the population, although an attempt was also made to “provide support to municipalities with fewer resources and potentially greater needs.”
The counties with the most designated investment are Vallès Occidental and Baix Llobregat, with 45.9 million and 44.4 million respectively. They are Maresme (29.2 million), Barcelonès (25.9) and Osona (18.1).
