Final weeks for residents to put forward proposals for Benidorm’s 2027 participatory budget

The process of preparing Benidorm City Council’s 2027 Participatory Budget is entering its final stage this September, with the deadline approaching for residents to formally submit their proposals and requests. Councillor for Citizenship Participation Ana Pellicer explained that, as established in the regulations governing the process, “the submission period will remain open until 11:59 p.m. on September 30. We therefore encourage all registered residents with ideas for improving our city to formally submit them so that they can be discussed, voted on and included in next year’s municipal budget.”

Pellicer recalled that the Participatory Budget determines each year, based on residents’ own choices, how at least 5% of the City Council’s investment budget is allocated to municipal projects. For this reason, the councillor stressed: “the importance of residents taking part and contributing, as this is a significant budget allocation whose final destination we place in the hands of our residents.”

All residents registered in Benidorm who are over 18 can participate in the process, “putting forward the actions they believe could benefit the city as a whole or improve specific and local aspects, such as the services, amenities or appearance of their street, neighbourhood or the areas they regularly visit,” she explained.

The Rules for the 2027 Participatory Budget, approved by the full City Council last February, establish that proposals should preferably fall within five main areas or categories: Urban Planning, Public Realm and Mobility; Equality, Social Welfare, Healthcare and Older People; Tourism, Beaches and Public Service; Education, Culture, Youth and Sports; and, lastly, the Environment and Street Cleaning.

How to Submit Proposals
Each resident may submit as many proposals as they wish, with each proposal submitted on a separate form. They may also attach up to two images or a short video of around 30 seconds to provide additional information about their proposal.

Proposals can be submitted in writing at the City Council’s General Registry, located on the ground floor, from Monday to Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.; via the online registration system; or by sending an email to consejovecinal@benidorm.org for the attention of the Department of Citizen Participation. Proposals must include the name of the person submitting the proposal, their national identity card (DNI) number, age, gender, address, telephone number or email address, and, where applicable, whether they belong to any civic or sector-specific organisation, as well as the title and description of the proposal.

The form and full details of this process can be found on the City Council’s website. https://benidorm.org The information can be accessed through the Citizen Participation Department section of the City Council’s website, under the Participatory Budgets section.

Once all the proposals have been collected, the process will consist of two phases: a first online phase and a second in-person phase. The online phase will include the presentation and voting on proposals relating to investments, as well as the voluntary nomination of anyone wishing to take part in the in-person phase of the process.

The subsequent in-person phase will involve counting the votes; selecting a maximum of two people from among those who have put themselves forward, plus two alternates, to join the Participatory Budget Commission; and convening the Participatory Budget Commission to channel the proposals, effectively monitor their implementation, and identify positive and negative aspects of how the process has worked.

The online voting period for the submitted proposals, the full list of which will be available on the City Council’s website, will open on October 5, 2026 and close on October 31, 2026. Voting will be positive only, to assess participants’ level of support for the different proposals, rather than using negative votes to eliminate proposals. This will result in a list of proposals ranked according to participants’ preferences based on the online votes. These proposals will subsequently form the list of initiatives to be considered by the Participatory Budget Commission.

Following the vote, a technical committee will evaluate and prioritise the proposed actions based on the distributive justice criteria established in the regulations. Priority will therefore be given to actions that help meet the population’s basic needs (water, electricity, safety, education, community relations, etc.); help reduce social inequalities (related to gender, income, ethnicity or physical or mental disabilities); meet environmental sustainability criteria (by making use of nearby, renewable, decentralised and self-sufficient resources); or benefit a larger proportion of the population.

Subsequently, the proposals will undergo a technical and economic feasibility assessment by the City Council’s technical staff, starting with the highest-scoring proposal and continuing until the maximum authorised expenditure limit is reached. If any of the proposals is deemed technically unfeasible, “it will be included in a separate list, and the next highest-voted proposal in the final prioritisation list will be selected.”

Finally, the proposals approved in accordance with the Self-Regulation Rules will be submitted to the Mayor’s Office for processing, following the order of priority resulting from the selection process. Those projects that do not require a public tender, a specific technical project or a period of public consultation will be carried out during the corresponding budget year.

“Since we placed this powerful participation tool at the service of residents in 2016, the City Council has carried out several highly valuable projects, such as new children’s play areas in l’Aigüera and Elche parks; the footbridge connecting the Els Tolls neighbourhood with the L’Illa Sports Palace; the roundabout on Avenida Ricardo Bayona; the conversion of the former road workers’ house on Vía Emilio Ortuño into an exhibition centre; the new park on Avenida Marina Alta; improvements to sports facilities; and the extension of the swimming lane at Poniente Beach,” Ana Pellicer recalled.

She also highlighted that, in 2026, the three new roundabouts on Avenida del Murtal were carried out using funds from this budget allocation. The City Council invested €535,000 in the project, which also doubled the number of parking spaces and improved traffic flow and road safety in the area.