Castelló d'Empúries spared financial plan under new decree

Castelló d'Empúries will not have to draw up an economic-financial plan, known in Catalan as a Pla Econòmic Financer (PEF), despite missing some budget stability targets in 2025. The town council says the gap came from spending its own savings on projects in the municipality, not from any problem with its finances.

The change follows a new Spanish government rule, Royal Decree-Law 13/2026, which gives councils more room to use their own reserves without triggering extra paperwork.

A problem for well-run councils

Spanish councils must meet a set of fiscal targets. These include budget stability indicators and the so-called spending rule, which limits how fast spending can grow. If a council misses them, it normally has to prepare a PEF explaining how it will get back on track.

According to the town council, this created an odd situation for many municipalities in recent years. Councils with healthy accounts and money in the bank could break the technical limits simply by spending that money on investment or better public services. They then had to write a PEF, even when their finances showed no structural imbalance.

The council says Castelló d'Empúries was one of these cases. It describes its financial position as solid and its solvency as proven.

What the new decree changes

Royal Decree-Law 13/2026 addresses this. For the 2026 and 2027 financial years, councils will not need to prepare a PEF if the deviation is caused by using two specific sources of money.

The first is the treasury surplus, or romanent de tresoreria. This is the money left over from previous years once all income and commitments are accounted for. The second is the surplus of earmarked funding, or excés de finançament afectat. This refers to funds received for specific purposes that had not yet been spent.

In practice, the rule separates two types of council. One has a real imbalance in its accounts. The other has its own resources and chooses to invest them in local needs. Only the first will still face the full PEF requirement.

Castelló's 2025 accounts

The town council's Intervenció, the internal office that audits municipal finances, has reviewed the closing of the 2025 budget. Its report confirms that the deviation came from using the treasury surplus and earmarked funding.

As a result, Castelló d'Empúries does not need to produce a PEF. The council adds that, once the adjustments allowed under the new rules are applied, it meets both the budget stability targets and the spending rule.

The mayor's view

Mayor Anna Massot welcomed the change. In comments issued by the council, translated here from Catalan, she said it backed an idea long defended by local government: good management "is not just about balancing the books, but also about knowing how to use the available resources to respond to the needs of citizens."

She added that governing means making responsible decisions, including "turning municipal resources into opportunities for progress for our town."

Massot said this has been the approach of her government. "Responsibility is not leaving money sitting idle in the municipal accounts," she said. Instead, it means managing it "with rigour, prudence and transparency" and turning it into improved streets, housing, facilities, sustainability, quality public spaces and better services. "Public resources must be at the service of people," she said.

Stability as a tool, not a goal

The council argues that the new framework recognises something shared by many municipalities. Using available money to invest for residents, it says, is not a sign of poor management. It is a responsible way of putting public funds to work.

The council also stresses that budget stability remains essential. But it sees stability as a guarantee, not an end in itself. The aim, it says, is to keep finances sound while still being able to turn resources into investment and services that improve residents' quality of life.

Massot said the council would keep the same approach: solid finances, strict management of public money, and the ambition to turn those resources into projects that move the town forward. "Managing well is not immobilising resources," she said. "It is putting them at the service of the common good."

Our Take

For residents of Castelló d'Empúries and Empuriabrava, this is mostly a technical matter. But it has practical weight. A PEF can take time and effort, and it can shape how freely a council plans its spending. Avoiding one suggests the council can keep using its reserves for local projects without an extra layer of oversight, at least for now.

The decision also fits a wider pattern in the town hall's messaging. The council has recently put money into direct initiatives such as the participatory budget of €250,000, and this ruling reinforces its argument that spending reserves is a sign of health, not weakness.

It is worth noting that the relief only covers 2026 and 2027. Whether Madrid extends it, and how the council uses its reserves in that window, will be the things to watch. Residents may also want to see how much of the promised investment in streets, housing and public spaces actually materialises.