El Gobierno de La Rioja incrementa financiación para servicios municipales en cabeceras de comarca

The President of the Government of La Rioja, Gonzalo Capellán, announced today, on the 27th, a 3.11% increase in funding that the Rioja Executive will provide this year for the provision of services by the main towns in the region. This means they will receive a total budget of 3,417,516 euros, 103,079 euros more than last year.

Gonzalo Capellán signed the 2025 main town agreements this morning at the Government Palace of La Rioja with the mayors of Calahorra, Mónica Arcéiz; Haro, Guadalupe Fernández; Alfaro, Yolanda Preciado; Nájera, Jorge Salaverri; Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Raúl Riaño; and Cervera del Rio Alhama, Álvaro Forcada. Representatives from the Town Halls of Arnedo and Torrecilla en Cameros, Raúl Domínguez and María Ángeles Santolaya, respectively, were also in attendance.

These collaboration agreements, framed within the so-called Local Cooperation Fund, reflect the strong municipal commitment of the Gonzalo Capellán government and demonstrate its territorial model, where all 174 municipalities are equally important, but intermediate population centers are called to play a decisive role in the short term as catalysts for fundamental intermunicipal collaboration to address immediate challenges such as depopulation or aging in rural areas.

Collaboration between administrations to continue progressing

After signing the agreements, the President of the Riojan Executive stated, «Cooperation between the different administrations, in this case, the main towns and the Government of La Rioja, is always good news.» He acknowledged that «my commitment to municipalities is maximum, firstly because I have long understood that the heart of management and action in the entire Community lies in all its municipalities.» Secondly, because «it is obvious and confirmed that the service provided to citizens with greater proximity comes from Local Government,» which is why they need the Government’s support to ensure that the services offered by municipalities remain essential.

He also emphasized that «the main town halls have a unique and very Riojan singularity, as they also provide service and support to the small municipalities that are grouped around them and serve as a reference for an entire region, so they have more needs.» The «intermediate cities,» he added, are «key to structuring a territory,» therefore, «the main towns and their mayors are key to a homogeneous and harmonious structuring of the entire La Rioja territory.»

Finally, he stated that «all citizens demand good collaboration between local and regional administrations for the region to continue growing and progressing,» so it is necessary for «all of us to make an effort to continue cooperating and ensure that La Rioja is the place where the highest social welfare and quality of life can be achieved by all citizens, regardless of where they choose to live within the entire autonomous community.»

Fernández highlights the increase in funding for the second consecutive year

On her part, the Mayor of Haro, Guadalupe Fernández, stated, «We are at one of the most important events held year after year, and where, for the second consecutive year, the regional Executive increases the amount allocated to all municipalities in the main towns, demonstrating the role that local administrations play in ensuring and improving all services for citizens.»

The town halls, she explained, are «the closest link to all citizens in that chain of transmission that provides greater attention to the quality of life of Riojans,» and by increasing funding for the main towns, «our capacity to improve and expand the number of services we offer to all residents increases, making our land an egalitarian and more habitable space.» Thus, she thanked the President of the Riojan Executive «for understanding the role that local administrations play, with this new financial effort, and for making residents the central axis of his policy.»

Forcada emphasizes the improvement of services and infrastructure in the face of rural exodus

For his part, the Mayor of Cervera del Río Alhama, Álvaro Forcada, said, «It is an honor to sign this agreement, as it is essential for municipalities to strengthen the funding and management of our towns to improve, with various interventions, the provision of effective and adapted public services to meet the needs of citizens.»

Finally, he emphasized that «progress in infrastructure improves the quality of life of our citizens, promotes equity and territorial cohesion. This fact is more evident in depopulated areas, where it is a challenge to keep the main town inhabited, essential to avoid rural exodus.»

Main town agreements for 2025

These amounts are calculated using a distribution formula that takes into account a fixed part, with a total amount of 1,003,000 euros, and another variable based on population, which is 30.420632 euros per inhabitant.

As stated in the agreement text, each Town Hall will allocate the resources from this participation in the Local Cooperation Fund of La Rioja to finance current and capital operations related to the provision of services recognized as the municipalities’ own competencies, expenses that must be mandatory charged to the Town Hall’s Budget for the year 2025.