A total of 105 town councils in Lleida, close to 50% of the total, have had to present an economic-financial plan for the current and next fiscal year for failing to comply with state spending rules derived from the 2012 Budgetary Stability Law. The obligation also affects the Diputación de Lleida, which approved a recent plan after unblocking investments in 2024 and exceeding the updated budget limit with inflation due to pending payment invoices.
The paradox is that many of those town halls are not in a liquidity crisis, but are limited by a rule that forces them to correct themselves even when they have surpluses or need to respond to unforeseen expenses. The Observatory of Local Finance of the Association of Municipalities of Catalonia maintains that this requirement reduces the room for maneuver of mayors and that fiscal rules are more restrictive for local administration than for regional or state administration.
Six municipalities have approved three plans and Torà reached four
Twenty-one town councils in Lleida have had to approve an economic and financial plan on two occasions since 2012. In six cases, Almatret, La Baronia de Rialb, Soses, Talavera, Tàrrega, and Tèrmens, the obligation has been repeated three times.
Torà heads that list with four approved plans. On the other hand, 126 town councils in Lleida, more than half, have not had to present any.
La Baronia de Rialb figures among the most repeated cases, with plans in 2018, 2020, and 2025. Its mayor, Antoni Reig, places the problem in the design of the norm and not in the accounting health of the municipalities.
"Local government is the most punished by the budgetary stability law with limitations that the State itself does not follow" - Antoni Reig, mayor of La Baronia de Rialb
Reig adds that the practical effect reaches municipal investment. In his municipality, they have surpluses that they cannot spend and they have let subsidies pass because they could not resort to credit to assume the part of the project that corresponded to the town hall.
Guixers linked the breach to storms and the Provincial Council attributed it to 2024 investments
Guixers approved economic and financial plans in 2019 and 2025. Its mayor, Jordi Selga, frames the spending rules within "poor management, and not precisely by the town councils."
"Yes, if like this year, you have to invest in fixing roads due to storms, you're in trouble" - Jordi Selga, mayor of Guixers
Selga also summarized the mechanism that leads to non-compliance when spending exceeds the budget plus CPI and called it an "injustice." In small municipalities, that margin can jump due to a specific action on roads or basic services.
The Diputación de Lleida has gone through a similar situation on a larger scale. The institution approved a recent plan after activating numerous investments in 2024 and exceeding the limit set on the budget updated with inflation, with outstanding invoices among the elements that explain this shortfall.
The scope of the phenomenon is not limited to the Lleida demarcation, because the four provincial councils have one or more economic-financial plans. In Lleida, the most repeated data among affected mayors is that the obligation exists even if there is capacity to spend or co-finance projects.
Antoni Reig, mayor of La Baronia de Rialb, specified that blockage by explaining that his city council had to renounce subsidies by not being able to resort to credit to cover the municipal part of the projects.