Santa Cruz Launches €2.4M Participatory Budget for Public-Chosen Projects
Santa Cruz is inviting residents to propose and vote on public projects for the 2026/2027 period, with 2.4 million euros allocated for initiatives chosen by the community.
Residents in Santa Cruz can now have their say on how the city is improved through the latest round of Participatory Budgets. For the 2026/2027 period, a total of 2.4 million euros will be invested in projects chosen by the public.
So far, the City Council has received more than 200 project ideas, split between city-wide initiatives and those for the five districts. Anaga has seen the most participation this year.
Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez and Councilor for Citizen Participation, Javier Caraballero, announced the new call for proposals. Bermúdez mentioned that while most suggestions are serious, some were clearly intended for attention rather than genuine improvement. He stressed that the initiative's aim is to bring positive changes to the municipality, not to entertain unrealistic ideas.
Bermúdez highlighted that these budgets strengthen the city's commitment to being more democratic and open, allowing everyone to influence local projects. He noted that in the previous cycle, 84 out of 539 submitted projects were chosen and are now either finished or underway.
Councilor Caraballero explained that people can submit new ideas on the municipal website until December 31st. After that, feasible projects will be reviewed, and the most popular ones will start being implemented next year. Of the 2.4 million euros budget, 2 million euros will go towards district projects, with each of the five districts receiving 400,000 euros. An additional 400,000 euros is set aside for city-wide awareness projects.