The Ejido expects to repay 10.77 million euros of debt in advance and place its indebtedness below 75% at the end of the year

The operation is in addition to the 6.63 million in ordinary amortization expected by the end of the year and consolidates the reduction of an inherited debt of 437 million euros, of which approximately 80% will have been amortized. The Plenary approves a budget modification that will reduce the debt to €82.11 million, with an approximate debt ratio of 65%. The financial effort to meet the debt during 2026 amounts to €17.7 million, which is equivalent to 48,527 euros per day or 1.48 million euros per month. This advance will allow greater budgetary margin to meet the priorities of the ejidenses, improve municipal services, maintain urban spaces and promote new investments.

The Plenary Session of the City Council of El Ejido has approved a budget modification that will allow 10,769,996 euros to be allocated to the early repayment of debt, an operation that represents a new step in the economic recovery and the reorganization of municipal accounts. This amount is in addition to the 6,634,000 euros provided to meet the ordinary repayment of loans subscribed with the Entity Financing Fund Taxation.

The Councilor for Finance, Contracting, Internal and Personal Regime, and municipal spokesman, José Francisco Rivera, has detailed that the measure acquires special relevance if one takes into account the economic situation from which the City Council started, whose accounts were for years conditioned by serious treasury difficulties, a negative cash balance for general expenses and the need to apply an adjustment plan, even becoming rated in a situation of financial risk.

The evolution of recent years shows a substantial change in the municipal financial situation, with a continued reduction in debt and an improvement in the main solvency indicators. One of the indicators that best reflects this transformation is the debt ratio.

Until 2023, El Ejido maintained a level higher than 110% of its current income, a circumstance that considerably limited its ability to face new credit operations and conditioned its financial autonomy.

Since then, the reduction has been steady. In 2024, long-term living capital stood at 115.63 million euros, with a debt ratio of 94.16%. By the end of 2025, debt had fallen to 99.51 million and the ratio had fallen to 78.82%. With the repayments planned for 2026, the outstanding debt will be around 82.11 million euros and the debt ratio will be approximately 65%, below the 75% threshold, according to the municipal forecast.

This advance will allow the City Council to have a more favorable financial position, improve its potential capacity to finance new investments and reduce its dependence on external authorizations, always in accordance with compliance with the remaining legal requirements.

The reduction in indebtedness also means that a smaller proportion of municipal current income will be compromised by accumulated financial obligations. This will allow to recover room for action to plan investments, meet new needs and progressively allocate more resources to public services and the improvement of urban spaces. It does not eliminate all financial obligations or guarantee by itself a healthy treasury, but it constitutes a significant advance in the solvency and sustainability of municipal accounts.

The evolution of debt is also reflected in the effort made during recent years to repay part of the loans in advance. Since 2017, these operations will have made it possible to amortize about 43 million euros before maturity, reducing outstanding capital and helping to limit future financial expenses.

Likewise, at the end of this year, the legacy debt of 437 million euros will have been reduced by approximately 80%, which represents a very significant transformation with respect to the initial economic situation.

The financial recovery has been accompanied by a progressive improvement in the treasury. After years of negative surpluses until 2015, the City Council has managed to move towards a more balanced situation and position itself recurrently among the best paying administrations, favouring the liquidity of suppliers and companies that provide services and work for the municipality.

The budgetary effort involved in the municipal debt translates during 2026 into a total of 17,712,496 euros, the result of adding the 10,769,996 euros of early repayment, the 6,634,000 euros of ordinary repayment and the 308,500 euros corresponding to the expected interest of the loan with the Fund for Financing Local Entities.

This amount represents an economic effort of approximately 48,527 euros per day, 339,692 euros per week or 1.48 million euros per month. In terms of population, taking as a reference the 93,500 inhabitants of the municipality, the amount is equivalent to about 189.44 euros per inhabitant per year.

The City Council's objective is to consolidate this evolution, strengthen municipal financial autonomy and continue to reduce the burden of debt on public resources. A situation that will allow a greater budgetary margin to meet the priorities of the ejidenses, improve municipal services, maintain urban spaces, promote new investments and respond to the present and future needs of the municipality.