The Ayuntamiento de Benidorm has finalised a new draft municipal budget for the 2026 financial year. The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, has passed the document to the corporation’s political groups, which pushes the forecast income and expenditure for this year above 224 million euro. The proposal includes the first payment arising from the Serra Gelada judicial ruling, achieved without raising taxes or cutting local services.
The document is scheduled on the agenda for next Monday’s Finance Information Commission. It details a payment of 60 million euro to the current landowners of the APR-7 sector of Serra Gelada, in compliance with the judicial sentence issued by the High Court of Justice of the Comunidad Valenciana.
Mayor Pérez emphasised the commitment of the local government to absorb the cost of the court ruling without impacting the pockets of residents or reducing services, stating that this was an absolute line in the sand and that the budget proves the commitment has been met.
Once the document is assessed by the Information Commission, the approval of the budget will be debated and put to a vote during an extraordinary plenary session. Prior to that, in the same session, councillors will address the Economic and Financial Plan prepared by the municipal financial controller. This plan establishes the approval of a balanced budget that complies with current fiscal rules as its sole measure.
Regarding investments, Pérez highlighted that the 2026 accounts project an increase in social spending. In areas such as education, spending will rise by 17 per cent to reach 4.6 million euro, alongside a specific investment of 2.6 million euro in the CEIP Ausiàs March school. Total investments for 2026 reach 93.5 million euro, as the acquisition of the Serra Gelada land plots is legally classified under investment expenditure.
