The Neighborhood Law is a central policy in Salvador Illa's project, aiming to invest 1,000 million euros over five years to restore over a hundred degraded areas in Catalonia, such as the Culubret neighborhood in Figueres or Cerdanyola in Mataró.
The decision to increase the funds by 35 million is due to high demand, as 83 municipalities applied for the subsidy, a figure four times higher than the initial capacity of 200 million. This expansion will allow the subsidy to reach about twenty localities that presented “very powerful” projects, according to Executive sources.
The objective of this resource injection is to improve the physical, environmental, and social conditions in areas suffering deterioration that impacts the lives of their residents.
The Ministry of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, led by Sílvia Paneque, and the neighborhood commissioner, directed by Carles Martí, managed the selection by applying criteria of territorial balance and vulnerability indicators. Unselected local councils may apply again in the second round, scheduled for 2026.
The Government is committed to guaranteeing the necessary resources for the project's continuity, even if new budgets for 2026 are not approved. President Illa views this policy as a key tool to curb the rise of the far-right, by strengthening the sense of belonging and expectations of progress in the most vulnerable neighborhoods.
