The deadline for submitting proposals for the Benidorm Participatory Budget 2027 is now open

Benidorm City Council, through its Department of Citizenship Participation, has opened the period for citizens to submit proposals for evaluation and possible inclusion in the municipal investment budgets of the 2027 Participatory Budget. The Councillor for Citizenship Participation, Ana Pellicer, explained that this period for submitting initiatives “will remain open until September 30th” and invited citizens to “take advantage of this process to send their ideas and contributions so that, together, we can make Benidorm an even better place.”

Ana Pellicer indicated that, as in previous instances, all Benidorm residents over 18 years of age can participate in this process, “and can suggest actions they believe could be positive for the city in general or improve more specific and local aspects, such as services, amenities, or the appearance of their street, neighbourhood, or the areas they frequent.”

The councilwoman also highlighted that these Participatory Budgets constitute “a very powerful tool for participation, since they give residents a voice and decision-making power,” and reiterated the “local government’s commitment to allocate at least 5% of the funds reserved for investments in the City Council’s budget to actions or projects proposed by citizens.”

She also recalled that “since the 2016 municipal budget, in which we first gave residents the ability to decide what they wanted for the city, this decision-making power has resulted in numerous projects that have been benefiting many citizens for some time now.” These include “the footbridge connecting Els Tolls with the Palau d’Esports, the roundabout on Ricardo Bayona Avenue, the renovation of the old road workers’ house on Emilio Ortuño Road, the new park located on Marina Alta Avenue, and the roundabouts on Murtal Avenue, which are currently under construction.”

Finally, the Head of Citizen Participation encouraged residents “to take part in this process, either by submitting proposals or by participating in the subsequent vote to choose which actions are necessary or prioritised, and thus help us decide what kind of Benidorm we want.”

The 2027 Participatory Budget, approved by the full council last February, states that proposals should preferably be framed within five main areas or blocks. The first covers Urban Planning, Urban Landscape, and Mobility. The second includes Equality, Social Welfare, Health, and Senior Citizens. The third block comprises Tourism, Beaches, and Public Safety. The fourth encompasses proposals related to Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports, while the last concerns actions related to the Environment and Street Cleaning.

How to submit proposals

Each citizen may submit as many proposals as they wish, each on a separate form, and may also attach two images or a short video of approximately 30 seconds to expand upon the content. Initiatives must be submitted in writing to the Town Hall's General Registry, located on the ground floor, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., online, or by sending an email to consejovecinal@benidorm.org addressed to the Department of Citizen Participation. Proposals must include the proposer's name, ID number, age, gender, address, telephone number or email address, and, if applicable, the title and description of the proposal, if applicable.

The form and all the details of this process can be found on the municipal website, www.benidorm.org, in the Department of Citizen Participation section, under Participatory Budgeting.

Once all proposals have been collected, the process will consist of two phases: an initial online phase and a second in-person phase. The online phase will include the presentation and voting on proposals related to investments, and the voluntary application process for those wishing to participate in the in-person phase. The in-person phase will then involve counting the votes; selecting a maximum of two people from among the applicants, plus two alternates, who will form the Participatory Budget Committee; and convening this Participatory Budget Committee to guide the proposals, verify their implementation, and identify positive and negative aspects of the process.

The period for online voting on the submitted proposals, a list of which can be found on the City Council's website, will open on October 5, 2026, and close on October 31, 2026. Voting will be conducted only in the "yes" category to assess the participants' acceptance of the different proposals; voting "no" will not be used to discard any proposals.

This will create a list of proposals ranked by participants' preferences based on the online votes. This list will then be incorporated into the Participatory Budget Committee's list of proposals for review.

Following the voting, a technical committee will evaluate and prioritise the proposals based on the principles of distributive justice outlined in the guidelines. Priority will be given to proposals that contribute to meeting the population's basic needs (water, electricity, security, education, community relations, etc.). that help reduce social inequality (based on gender, income, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability); those that meet environmental sustainability criteria (using local, renewable, decentralized, and self-sufficient resources); or those that benefit a larger percentage of the population.

Subsequently, these proposals will be subject to a technical and economic feasibility report by the City Council's technical staff, starting with the highest-scoring proposal and continuing up to the maximum authorised expenditure limit. If any proposal is not technically feasible, it will be included in another list, and the next highest-scoring proposal on the final prioritisation list will be selected.

Finally, the proposals approved according to the Self-Regulation will be submitted to the Mayor's Office for processing, following the priority order resulting from the selection process. Those projects that do not require a public tender, a specific technical project, or public consultation will be implemented in the budgeted year.