Red.es, the public business entity under Spain’s Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, has approved funding for 52 local smart city initiatives through its RedCyTI Smart Economy program. According to the government announcement published on 15 September 2026, Red.es will contribute more than €94 million from its own resources and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), mobilizing at least €126 million once local co-financing is added.
The awards cover city councils, provincial councils, island authorities and two single-province regional governments across 14 autonomous communities. Andalusia alone accounts for 15 projects and about €40.6 million of Red.es funding, roughly 43% of the total.
Demand Forced a 69% Budget Expansion Before Awards Were Made
The call was originally capped at €89.16 million, as set out in Order TDF/1559/2025 published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 30 December 2025. According to the award resolution signed by Red.es Director General Jesús Herrero Poza, the 52 qualifying applications exceeded that ceiling, so the Red.es board authorized an increase on 28 July 2026.
A subsequent resolution dated 10 August 2026 raised the maximum budget for the call to €150.53 million. That headroom allowed every application that passed the scoring thresholds to receive funding.
Red.es received 59 applications between 31 January and 31 March 2026. One was ruled inadmissible and six failed to reach minimum scores on the evaluation criteria.
Why Tortosa Was Excluded and Six Others Fell Short
The Ayuntamiento de Tortosa in Catalonia was disqualified because its “HUB mouTte Tortosa” proposal planned to cover most of its 60% local share, about €975,000, through in-kind staff time rather than cash. The resolution notes that only €295,000 would have been paid as a monetary contribution, which breached the program’s requirement that local entities transfer funds to Red.es.
The six rejected applications were from Coín and La Carolina in Andalusia, Girona in Catalonia, Mislata and the Mancomunitat Comarcal Els Ports in the Valencian Community, and A Cañiza in Galicia. Each failed the threshold on the second evaluation criterion.
Andalusia Captures the Largest Share of Funding
Andalusian beneficiaries receive 85% co-financing, the highest intensity available. The largest awards go to the Ayuntamiento de Sevilla, the Diputación Provincial de Córdoba and the Diputación Provincial de Jaén, each with a €6 million project and €5.1 million from Red.es.
The Ayuntamiento de Málaga follows with €5.05 million toward a €5.94 million initiative, while the Ayuntamiento de Córdoba receives €4.16 million for a €4.89 million project. Córdoba’s city council also posted the highest overall evaluation score in the national call, at 8.09.
Mid-sized awards go to Granada (€2.23 million), Villaluenga del Rosario (€2.13 million), the Diputación de Huelva (€1.79 million), Lebrija (€1.70 million) and Torremolinos (€1.64 million). Alcalá de Guadaíra (€1.43 million), Algeciras (€1.32 million), the Diputación de Granada (€1.31 million), Rota (€1.28 million) and the city of Jaén (€1.28 million) complete the regional list.
Canary Island Authorities Secure Seven Projects
The Canary Islands placed seven projects, totaling €14.44 million in budgets and €12.27 million from Red.es at 85% co-financing. The Cabildo Insular de Tenerife and the Ayuntamiento de Gáldar each receive about €2.77 million toward projects of roughly €3.26 million.
The Cabildos of Fuerteventura and La Palma and the Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de Tenerife each receive €1.36 million. The Cabildo de Gran Canaria (€1.34 million) and the Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (€1.31 million) round out the archipelago’s allocation.
Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha Benefit From Maximum Aid Intensity
In Extremadura, the Diputación Provincial de Badajoz receives €4.25 million for a €5 million project, one of the largest outside Andalusia. The Diputación de Cáceres gets €1.87 million and the Ayuntamiento de Cáceres €1.51 million, with the city scoring 7.63, among the top five nationally.
Castilla-La Mancha’s four projects total €5.71 million from Red.es. Albacete receives €1.85 million, followed by Toledo (€1.30 million), Alovera (€1.28 million) and Valdepeñas (€1.28 million).
Regions at 60% Co-Financing Carry a Heavier Local Burden
Projects in regions eligible for 60% support must fund 40% of costs locally. In Castilla y León, the Ayuntamiento de Burgos receives €2.15 million for a €3.59 million project, alongside La Vellés (€1.27 million), the Diputación de Burgos (€1.03 million) and Palencia (€1.00 million).
The Valencian Community’s five projects draw €6.64 million from Red.es. The Ayuntamiento de Valencia leads with €2.10 million on a €3.5 million budget, followed by Alcoy (€1.38 million), Benidorm (€1.13 million), Jávea (€1.13 million) and La Nucía (€0.91 million).
In Galicia, the Diputación Provincial de A Coruña receives €2.02 million, the Concello de Santiago de Compostela €0.99 million and Ponteareas €0.90 million. The Region of Murcia’s three awards go to Santomera (€1.36 million), Murcia (€1.35 million) and Cartagena (€1.02 million), with Murcia’s city council scoring 7.66.
Cantabria’s Santander and Castro-Urdiales each receive about €1.2 million. Single projects were funded for the Principado de Asturias (€1.2 million), the Gobierno de La Rioja (€1.2 million) and the Consell Insular de Mallorca (€1.04 million).
Catalonia and Madrid Receive the Lowest Aid Rate
Beneficiaries in Catalonia and the Community of Madrid qualify for only 40% support. The Diputació de Barcelona scored 7.93, second highest nationally, but its €1.62 million project draws just €0.65 million from Red.es.
Reus receives €0.95 million toward a €2.36 million initiative. The Ayuntamiento de Móstoles is Madrid’s only beneficiary, with €600,000 for a €1.5 million project.
Sandboxes, Urban Labs, AI and Digital Twins Define Eligible Scope
RedCyTI targets the “smart economy” dimension of smart cities, focusing on digital infrastructure that supports strategic local industries. The government announcement cites examples such as test environments for connected and autonomous vehicles and drones, urban innovation laboratories, and testbeds for agriculture, fisheries, livestock and energy technologies.
According to the program page on the Red.es electronic office, projects can also apply artificial intelligence and digital twins to data already held on municipal city platforms. A third strand supports data sharing between local authorities and private companies through common technology infrastructure.
Eligible costs include hardware, software deployment, cloud and communications services during implementation, advanced analytics, interoperable data publication and staff training. Beneficiaries must fully assume operating costs once deployment ends and keep projects financially sustainable for at least five years under EU durability rules.
Red.es Will Run Procurement, Creating a Pipeline for Integrators
The grants are awarded in kind, meaning Red.es itself will tender and execute each project rather than transferring cash to municipalities. No vendors have yet been named, so the 52 initiatives represent a forthcoming procurement pipeline worth about €126 million for technology integrators, platform providers and IoT suppliers.
Local entities must transfer half of their co-financing share to Red.es six months after signing their agreement and the remainder at 12 months. Funding comes from the ERDF Multi-regional Programme for Spain 2021-2027, as described in the European Parliament’s ERDF factsheet.
A Decade of Red.es Smart City Funding
RedCyTI builds on the National Smart Cities Plan launched in 2015. Across five previous calls, Red.es channeled more than €200 million in ERDF co-financed support to 59 initiatives covering 25 cities, 24 tourist destinations, seven buildings and three islands.
The new round nearly matches that historic project count in a single call. Red.es continues to coordinate its smart city work with the Spanish Network of Smart Cities (RECI) and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).
Sources
- https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/transformacion-digital-y-funcion-publica/paginas/2026/150926-proyectos-ciudades-inteligentes.aspx
- https://sede.red.gob.es/RestExterno/rest/documentoservice/obtenerBinarioDocumento/MTkxNDU3MA==
- https://sede.red.gob.es/es/procedimientos/redcyti-smart-economy-programa-de-impulso-las-ciudades-y-territorios-inteligentes
- https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2025/12/30/pdfs/BOE-A-2025-27112.pdf
- https://www.red.es/es/iniciativas/proyectos/plan-nacional-de-ciudades-inteligentes
- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/es/sheet/95/el-fondo-europeo-de-desarrollo-regional-feder-
- https://www.channelpartner.es/negocio/red-es-movilizara-126-millones-para-impulsar-proyectos-de-ciudades-inteligentes/
