Castelló participatory budget opens with €250,000

Castelló d'Empúries town council has launched a new round of its participatory budget, giving residents a direct say in how €250,000 of next year's municipal spending will be used.

This is the ninth edition of the scheme. The money comes from the council's 2027 budget and will go to projects put forward and chosen by local people. The municipality includes both the historic town of Castelló d'Empúries and Empuriabrava, so ideas can come from anywhere in the area.

How the process began

The first step was a public workshop on Thursday 24 September at 7pm, held in the chapel of the Santa Clara convent in Castelló d'Empúries.

The session was planned as an open meeting. Anyone attending could present their ideas, discuss them with others and help pick a first set of proposals to move on to the next stage.

The workshop is only one route in. People can still send in ideas until 5 October.

How to submit a proposal

There are three ways to take part in this first phase:

• Online, through the website tutriescastello.cat
• Through dedicated suggestion boxes set up for the process
• At information points at the market

There is no minimum age for submitting ideas, so children and teenagers can also contribute. The deadline is 5 October. Residents with families may want to note it alongside the deadline for school book grants, which falls a few days earlier.

The rules for projects

Proposals must be investments. Each one can cost no more than €150,000. The council set this limit so that the total budget of €250,000 can pay for more than one project.

Once the submission period closes, a technical committee will review every idea. Its job is to check that each proposal falls within the powers of the town council. In practice, this means ideas involving areas run by other administrations, such as the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Catalan government), are unlikely to go through.

Forum and final vote

The process will then continue over the winter. In December and January, the council will call a Citizens' Prioritisation Forum. This is the stage where the list of valid proposals will be narrowed down and ranked.

The final vote is expected in February and March 2027. The rules for voting are stricter than for submitting ideas. Only people registered on the municipal padró can take part, and they must be aged 16 or over. The padró is the local census of residents, and being registered on it is a common requirement for access to council services in Spain.

The proposals with the most votes will be carried out in order of support until the €250,000 is used up.

Key dates at a glance

• 24 September: Opening workshop at the Santa Clara convent chapel
• Until 5 October: Proposals accepted online, in suggestion boxes and at market information points
• December and January: Citizens' Prioritisation Forum
• February and March 2027: Final vote for registered residents aged 16 and over

Our Take

With nine editions behind it, participatory budgeting is clearly an established part of how Castelló d'Empúries runs its affairs. The sum is modest compared with the full municipal budget, but it gives residents a real, if limited, voice in deciding on local investments.

The €150,000 cap per project suggests the council wants to avoid a single large scheme absorbing the whole fund. This could favour smaller, practical improvements over big-ticket works.

The rules also draw a clear line. Anyone can suggest an idea, including visitors and children, but only registered residents aged 16 and over can vote. For Empuriabrava's many international residents and second-home owners, this may be another reason to consider registering on the padró if they live here for much of the year.

It is worth watching how many proposals reach the forum, whether projects from Empuriabrava or the old town dominate the final list, and how turnout in next spring's vote compares with local interest in the scheme.