The legal battle surrounding the Barcelona popular consultation regulation is set to reach its final chapter in Madrid. Consequently, the Spanish Supreme Court has agreed to issue a definitive ruling on the validity of the city’s participation rules. This decision will establish a crucial legal precedent for municipalities across the entire country.
According to court documents, the high court has admitted two appeals filed by the Barcelona City Council. These appeals challenge previous rulings by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), which had partially annulled the city’s regulation on the grounds that it overstepped municipal competencies.
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A Precedent for All of Spain
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is significant. Meanwhile, the judges have indicated that the controversy extends beyond the Catalan capital. Therefore, it affects a large number of potential situations regarding “the impact that the regulation of citizen consultations at the municipal level may have.”
Consequently, the forthcoming ruling will serve as a benchmark for the scope of municipal autonomy regarding direct democracy for every town hall in Spain. In addition, the current Barcelona administration, led by Mayor Jaume Collboni, argues that the regulation meets all conditions of certainty. Furthermore, it contends that the lower court’s annulment undermines the council’s autonomy to manage public affairs.
The Core Dispute: Binding or Consultative?
The regulation in question is the second iteration of the Reglamento de Participación, approved in May 2022 during the tenure of former Mayor Ada Colau. An earlier 2017 version was also struck down by the courts.
The central legal friction lies in whether the regulation respects the strictly non-binding nature of municipal consultations. The TSJC previously ruled that the definition of voting in the regulation-described as “free, direct, secret, and equal”-mimics electoral processes too closely. This potentially confuses a consultative exercise with a binding referendum.
Moreover, the regulation allows municipal political groups to formally state whether they will accept the results before a consultation takes place. The TSJC argued this provision reinforces the perception of a binding outcome, which falls outside municipal jurisdiction.
Political Context and Restrictions
The legal challenges were initially brought by the Associació de Juristes Constitucionalistes per les Llibertats and the Chamber of Infrastructure. Marc Serra, a councillor involved in drafting the regulation, suggested the legal pushback was motivated by attempts to block a specific public consultation regarding the remunicipalisation of water services. This was a contentious issue during the ‘water wars’ between the Colau administration and Aigües de Barcelona.
Another point of contention for the Supreme Court to resolve involves specific prohibitions within the regulation. The City Council banned consultations on matters where a contract is already being executed or processed. It argued that stopping such contracts could cause irreparable damage. However, the TSJC labelled this exclusion “unjustified and incomprehensible” for a process meant to be merely consultative. It suggested this creates legal insecurity.
The Signature Hurdle
While the courts debate the legality of the framework, local civic groups have criticised the regulation for being practically unworkable. The 2022 text drastically increased the number of signatures required to trigger a citizen initiative from 15,000 to 88,709.
At the time of approval, the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Barcelona (FAVB) lamented the change. It stated that gathering nearly 90,000 signatures in three months would require any organisation to halt all other activities. Ultimately, there was no guarantee of success.
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