Barcelona, the Catalan Government has approved its 2026 budget project, setting spending at €49.1 billion, the highest figure in the Generalitat’s history. The plan includes agreements with ERC and Comuns and now moves into the parliamentary process.

Economy Minister Alícia Romero formally submitted the budget to Parliament President Josep Rull, which starts the legislative timetable. Parliamentary groups have ten days to submit amendments to the full text, and the final vote is scheduled for the plenary session between 30 June and 2 July, unless a party asks for a review by the Council of Statutory Guarantees.

The budget keeps the €49.162 billion figure presented in February and is €9.126 billion higher than in 2023. It includes €893 million in extra provisions to meet the agreements with ERC and Comuns, of which €360 million had already been planned three months ago but not assigned, while the remaining €533 million comes from a reserve set aside for an expected €500 million rise in revenue, linked to a deal with Esquerra. It also forecasts €4.146 billion in public sector investments.

Healthcare remains the largest spending area at €13.840 billion, followed by Education at €8.356 billion and Social Rights at €4.248 billion. These three departments also recorded the biggest absolute increases compared with 2023. In percentage terms, Sports saw the largest rise at 73.1%, followed by European Union and Foreign Action at 54.1%, and Linguistic Policy at 43.3%.

The extra resources agreed with ERC and Comuns amount to €893 million for 2026 and are projected to reach €4.693 billion over the 2026 to 2030 period. The long-term agreements focus heavily on Housing and Healthcare, and departmental ministers are expected to appear before parliamentary committees next week, from Tuesday to Friday, to explain their budgets.

After submitting the project, Romero said the budget showed ambition and expressed hope for swift approval, saying it responds to the country’s needs. Rull said the budget is the tool that most directly affects citizens’ lives and called on parties to act with generosity during the process. Comuns leader Jéssica Albiach pointed to progress on housing but said the government lacks real will to impose sanctions, while ERC spokesperson in Parliament Jordi Albert said the budget includes future agreements extending to 2030.

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