Botànic faces the final stage of balancing the Generalitat’s 2023 budget, with Alicante receiving particular emphasis. Complaints from several states add pressure on the Valencian Government as it signals its commitments for the coming year, while border areas wait for investments. The province lingers at the edge of funding priorities. Budgets show low realization, as many announced projects never move beyond the planning stage. In simple terms, a lot of advertising ends in empty words rather than tangible steps. The record shows that of 1,107 million euros committed by the central administration for community projects, only about 40% was executed in 2021. In the Consell, the execution rate climbed to 61% last year, with 16% of investments completed by August 2022.
The latest data from the Generalitat’s General Response covers January through mid-year. In Consell accounts, actual investments stood at roughly 1,525 million euros up to August. About 243 million had been executed, leaving roughly 84% of investments pending. This trend is repeatedly noted by Ministry of Finance sources. Typically, administrative steps to execute projects occur in the first half of the year, with execution focused in the second half.
There is substantial variation in investment realization across ministries. For example, the Housing department, led by Hector Illueca, shows one of the higher percentages, with 40.63% of funds invested from a 44.5 million euro budget. The innovation sector has the lowest engagement at 0.32%. Illueca announced that accelerating mass housing purchases is a key factor behind the positive data. With the latest figures, investment execution rose to 75.95%, totaling 31,229,000 euros. Once mass housing procurement is standardized, around 450 homes could be bought each year with the annual donation. The department, under Josefina Bueno, added about 4.4 million euros to the 1.1 million euros already allocated for investments in 2022 under the Impulse Rehabilitation Program. Public Buildings still show no execution as of August.
In the Ministry of Equality and Inclusive Policies, led by Aitana Mas, investment funds near 98 million euros show just 3.88% implemented by August. Several factors explain this slow pace. A clause tied to the Government’s European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism can be activated until 2026, leaving funds tied to future execution rather than disappearing. Construction timelines, tendering processes, zoning regulations, and the fact that payments align with work certificates mean billing often begins only in the construction phase, potentially two years after project design. In the August expenditure summary, 25% of investments had been tendered and were in early construction. Considering all ministries, roughly 44% of real investments had already been engaged by August.
Total investor volume doubled in one year
The overall rate of Generalitat investment execution by August stood at 15.94%, down from 26.15% in the same month of 2021. The total real investment volume rose to 1.524 billion euros this year, aided by European funds. By department, the Presidency stood at 6.36% for the first half, Treasury 16.34%, Justice 9.86%, Regional Policy 32.42%, Education 15.18%, Health 10.94%, Economy 7.71%, Agriculture 15.85%, and Transparency 2.66%.
These figures reflect ongoing efforts to align planning, tendering, and funding cycles with actual construction and procurement realities. They highlight the recurring pattern of early-year administrative activity, followed by a surge in execution during the latter half of the year as projects move from papers to concrete work. The data also illustrate the tension between approved budgets and timely spend, a dynamic that shapes the region’s development trajectory. [Citation: Ministry of Finance; Generalitat records, 2023-2024]