The Departments of Public Engagement, Economics, and Finance within Arona City Council have unveiled a pilot programme for involving residents in the planning of the city’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year. The Mayor of Arona, Fátima Lemes, along with councillors Rubens Delgado and Guacimara Tavío, have conducted meetings in various urban areas of the municipality to introduce and elaborate on this innovative initiative to residents. This marks the first time in the municipality’s history that citizens have the opportunity to directly participate in the budgeting process.
These meetings have been highly beneficial, not only for providing a firsthand explanation of the project and outlining the steps to propose ideas but also for allowing attendees to voice their concerns and needs for their neighbourhoods, offering a glimpse of the intended outcomes of the initiative.
The contributions from citizens are the primary tool for participation, enabling any individual or civic group to suggest specific ideas for public initiatives by the Arona City Council, as well as review proposals put forward by others. A budget of 700,000 Euros has been allocated for funding the citizen-led initiatives in this pilot programme.
Residents taking part in both the initial phase of online proposal submission and the subsequent voting phase must register on the portal decide.arona.org. Additionally, the City Council may solicit proposals from residents or civic groups on any topic of public interest linked to policies or governance. Participants must be over 16 years old and registered in the municipality of Arona. Each resident can contribute multiple proposals related to their registered area and later vote on their inclusion in the budget.
