Barcelona City Council

Barcelona is governed by a city council. 41 city councilors constitute the council. The councilors are elected for a four year term by universal suffrage. The executive government is formed by 21 councilors. In the top of the hierarchy is the Mayor. Next there are 5 lieutenant-mayors followed by 15 city councilors. Each of them is in charge of separate departments of the government. The most popular party in Barcelona is the Plaça Sant Jaume. The second most voted party in Barcelona is CiU, followed by PP.

City council has jurisdiction over city planning, municipal taxes, public highways security through the Guardia Urbana, transportation, city maintenance, parks and gardens and environment, schools, nurseries, sports centers, libraries, culture, sports, youth and social welfare. The public administration procedures involve Economic Activity and Employment, Public Finance, Social Affairs, Maintenance of the city and the environment, Animals and pets, Municipal Markets etc.

According to the Barcelona City Charter, the basic requirement is to have a clear distinction in the political aspects of law making, policy making and control from the administrative functions. There are two distinct organizations. The first includes elected members or councilors, who take decisive, informative and/or advisory actions. The second is formed by the various sectors who are directly involved. They are responsible for management of the programmes and execution of the resolutions, approved by the political branch.

The current activities and the proposed ones of the government of Barcelona City Council and their implementation are contained in the Municipal Action Plan (PAM). Some of the proposed plans of actions are Report on the current state of the Municipal Action Programmes, Barcelona Inclusiva 2005-2010 municipal plan for social inclusion, Barcelona Youth Plan, Citizen's Rights Charter in the Society of Information and Knowledge, City Education Project, Municipal programme for homeless people etc.