2026 funding advances to Spanish regions and local governments updated

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. It updates the advances (entregas a cuentaEntregas a cuenta Advance payments the State makes each year to the Autonomous Communities and local governments before the final settlement of their funding is calculated.) paid to the common-regime Autonomous Communities during 2026, using the tax revenue forecasts used to set the 2026 spending ceiling. The additional amounts for January to June will be paid in July and the rest from September.
2. It also updates the advances for local governments' share of State taxes for 2026, with their indexes and reference values, and sets the rules for payments from September 2026.
3. Local governments will not have to compensate or return the national mobile phone fees they collected in excess and that the State has returned, or must return, to mobile phone companies because of final court rulings.
4. Exceptionally, in 2026 and 2027, local governments that miss the budget stability target or the spending rule only because they used their treasury surplus will not have to approve an economic and financial plan, as long as they pay their suppliers within the legal deadline.
5. It allows local governments that meet certain financial health requirements to use their 2025 budget surplus for non-financial spending, and extends the option of using surpluses to fund housing investments through 2026 and the following four years.
6. It amends several laws: rules for filling positions reserved to civil servants with national certification, the regime for financially sustainable investments, the regime of certain local consortia, and treasury advances to the fund that finances the Autonomous Communities.

Who it affects

• Common-regime Autonomous Communities: They will receive updated advances during 2026, with additional payments in July and from September.
• Municipalities, provincial councils, and island councils (consejos and cabildos): Their advances are updated, they will not return excess mobile phone fees, and they can use their 2025 surplus more flexibly.
• Local governments in good financial shape: They are exempt from approving economic and financial plans in 2026 and 2027 for breaches tied to their treasury surplus.
• Suppliers of territorial administrations: The rule aims to prevent payment collection times from lengthening due to the lack of updated advances.
• Local government civil servants with national certification (habilitación de carácter nacional): The rules for filling their positions change, with competitive selection as the normal system and discretionary appointment as the exception.

Words worth knowing

Entregas a cuenta

Advance payments the State makes each year to the Autonomous Communities and local governments before the final settlement of their funding is calculated.

Prórroga presupuestaria

A situation where no new budgets are approved and the previous year's budgets keep applying.

Remanente de tesorería

Leftover cash remaining in a public entity's accounts at the end of the fiscal year after adjusting revenues and payments.

Regla de gasto

A legal limit on how much a public administration's spending can grow.

Habilitación de carácter nacional

A certification that qualifies certain civil servants for reserved positions in local government across Spain.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries