La Orotava Residents to Decide 2026 Budget Spending

La Orotava's Mayor, Francisco Linares, announced that residents can once again help decide how the town's money is spent. This happens through the "2026 Participatory Budgets," a program where citizens directly choose how to invest part of the City Council's funds. Mayor Linares stressed that this program is a way for people to get involved in local government, making democracy stronger and ensuring town investments truly meet the needs of different neighborhoods.

Delia Escobar, the councillor in charge of Citizen Participation, explained that the program started on January 19th. Over the next few months, residents will propose ideas, vote on them, and then see their chosen projects put into action.

A new feature this year is that residents can submit their ideas and proposals online. A new, easy-to-use website, https://participacion.laorotava.es/, has been launched for this purpose. On this site, people can submit proposals, find information about the process, and vote for their favorite projects.

The Participatory Budgets program will run for several months. It gives residents the chance to suggest ideas, discuss them, and then vote on which projects they believe are most important for La Orotava.

Information meetings will take place in January and February. After that, proposals will be checked by experts between February 16th and 27th. On March 2nd, the chosen projects will be announced.

Voting will happen in two ways: online from March 3rd to 31st, and in person on March 12th. To make it easier for everyone to vote, a special tent will be set up on the street from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on March 12th, where people can cast their votes directly for the final projects. The results will be shared on April 6th.

These information meetings are designed to encourage participation, explain the whole process, and help residents develop and submit their proposals. The town council has planned a series of meetings across the municipality, both in the town center and in various neighborhoods:

• Town Center: Casa de la Juventud
• La Perdoma: AA.VV. Ntra. del Rosario (January 26)
• Risco Caído-Paseo Domínguez Alfonso: AA.VV. (January 27)
• Benijos: Municipal Senior Citizens' Center (January 28)
• Aguamansa: Social venue (January 29)
• Camino de Chasna: Multi-purpose Center (February 3)
• Pinolere: AA.VV. (February 4)
• Los Pinos: Neighborhood association (February 5)
• San Antonio: Neighborhood association (February 9)

This year, the 2026 Participatory Budgets program receives funding from the Cabildo de Tenerife. Their Insular Department of Social Action, Inclusion, Volunteering, and Citizen Participation not only provides money but also offers digital support to make the whole process easier, more accessible, and more open for everyone.

Through this program, La Orotava City Council once again shows its dedication to involving residents, being transparent, and ensuring neighborhoods have a say in decisions that shape the town's present and future.