Starting next Tuesday, the citizens of Madrid will have the opportunity to be active participants in the management of the city through the 2024-25 participatory budgets. Until March 27, Madrid residents who are registered and aged 16 or older will be able to vote in the final phase of this process, deciding how the 50 million euros from the municipal budget for the years 2026 and 2027 will be spent. This exercise in direct democracy allows the most supported proposals to be integrated into municipal budgets, ensuring that the community's needs and desires are a priority.
Deputy Mayor Inma Sanz announced to the Governing Board that 189 projects moved to the voting phase after passing the City's rigorous technical feasibility filter. Of these, 157 focus on improving a single district, while 32 extend to the city level or across more than one district, and cover sectors such as culture, sport, environment, and accessibility.
Votes can be cast digitally through the Decide Madrid platform or in person at the municipal registry offices. From the total sum, 15 million euros will be allocated to projects that benefit the city as a whole, with the remaining 35 million allocated to district-level projects, awarded proportionally according to the number of inhabitants.
Since the start of the process in February of last year, any interested party, resident or not, could submit up to five projects. These proposals, after a review of legality and feasibility, were screened down to 189, which are now open for voting.
This year marks the sixth edition of the participatory budgets in Madrid. In previous editions, significant improvements were introduced to increase the effectiveness of the process, such as the implementation of mandatory technical reports and the transition to biennial calls, thereby improving the planning and execution of the projects.
During the current term, there has been a notable increase in the number of completed projects, with notable examples in the areas of culture, sport, environment, and accessibility. Recent initiatives include the creation of cultural centers, sports facilities, and transformations of green spaces, among others, evidencing the positive impact of these budgets on the daily life of Madrilenians.
For more details or to participate in the voting process, interested parties can consult the information available on the digital platform 'Decide Madrid'.
