The Barcelona Provincial Council approved a €10.5 million programme on Thursday, 30 April 2026, to ensure six municipalities can manage their neighbourhood regeneration projects until 2030. This funding supports local offices responsible for implementing projects selected under the Catalan Government's 2025 Neighbourhoods and Towns Law.
The programme, titled "Neighbourhoods and Towns in Transition: Implementation of 2025 Memory Programmes", will assist Manresa, Mataró, Sant Joan Despí, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, and Vic. These municipalities will receive support to strengthen the technical, administrative, and organisational structures needed to deploy their respective Integral Intervention Memory Programmes (PMII).
These PMII documents outline the comprehensive urban, environmental, and social improvements planned for specific neighbourhoods and towns. Municipalities drafted and submitted these programmes in 2025, with support from the Barcelona Provincial Council, to access the Catalan Government's Urban, Environmental, and Social Recovery Fund for Special Attention Neighbourhoods and Towns.
Pioneering Support for Local Councils
The Barcelona Provincial Council is the first Catalan provincial council to offer this specific aid to municipalities benefiting from the Neighbourhoods Law. The programme includes technical, training, and relational advice, and provides access to open resources such as guides, manuals, models, and training courses.
The €10.5 million allocation is divided into two lines of support. The first is a continuity economic resource of €4,549,740, covering ongoing expenses for local offices, dedicated staff, and other professionals involved in plan management from 2026 to 2030. The second is a specific concerted resource of €5,950,260, which is technical, economic, or material in nature, and will be deployed over the first three years, adapting to each municipality's needs.
Maximum estimated amounts per municipality are: Manresa (€1,929,032), Mataró (€2,305,576), Sant Joan Despí (€1,095,442), Santa Coloma de Gramenet (€2,482,854), Santa Perpètua de Mogoda (€642,158), and Vic (€2,044,938).
Addressing Urban Inequalities
The Catalan Government's Neighbourhoods Law aims to promote urban, environmental, and social improvements in neighbourhoods and towns through integral interventions. With this programme, the Barcelona Provincial Council strengthens its role in supporting local governments and helps ensure municipalities can implement their projects effectively and to a high standard.
According to Gemma Badia Cequier, the Deputy for Urban Planning, Housing, and Urban Regeneration, "the Neighbourhoods Law is an opportunity to reduce urban, social, and environmental inequalities, a need that the Barcelona Provincial Council identified in the 2024-2027 Mandate Plan as a priority transformative project." She added that the programme helps local councils "plan, coordinate, monitor, serve citizens, and ensure that projects reach neighbourhoods with quality and continuity."
Cross-cutting Support and Sustainable Development Goals
Integral regeneration of urban areas is a need in many parts of the province that have neighbourhoods or towns requiring special attention. These areas often present diverse situations that demand intense and integrated action to improve residents' living conditions and reverse or contain processes of social, residential, and territorial segregation.
The "Neighbourhoods and Towns in Transition: Implementation of 2025 Memory Programmes" is a cross-cutting initiative. It is channelled through the Table for Urban, Environmental, and Social Improvement of Neighbourhoods and Towns, which comprises 14 areas of the Barcelona Provincial Council. This table is jointly led by the Urban Planning, Housing, and Urban Regeneration Area, the Social Sustainability, Life Cycle, and Community Area, and the Climate Action and Energy Transition Area.
This action aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number 10, "Reduced Inequalities", and number 11, "Sustainable Cities and Communities". The 17 SDGs were proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015, and form part of the global agenda for 2030. The Barcelona Provincial Council is committed to meeting these goals and bases its support for local governments in the province on these SDGs.
Recipient councils must formally accept the programme's resources before 1 June 2026. All actions must be completed by 31 December 2030.
