The nine councilors of Barcelona En Comú in the Barcelona City Council will begin to process the collection of per diems for attendance at plenary sessions and commissions of the Provincial Council and the Metropolitan Area (AMB) to transfer them to the party. Until now, the councilors of the commons had waived collecting these allowances, which amount to up to 973 euros each monthly plenary session of the Provincial Council and 368 for the metropolitan ones. The decision seeks to “strengthen” the organization with more resources in view of the municipal elections, explain party sources, and in no case does it imply an increase in the payroll of the councilors, who already give up part of their salary, in accordance with its pioneering Code of Ethics.
At its only congress in ten years, last summer, Barcelona en comú agreed to modify its code of ethics to allow the collection of per diems, but had not applied the change, which it did not make public either. Now, the municipal group has agreed to make it effective. The decision represents a change in the policy that Barcelona en Comú had applied since its birth in 2014, when the party founded by former mayor Ada Colau established that all its positions would renounce allowances. More than ten years later, the party considers that it cannot disdain these resources. By not collecting them, they argue, they remain in the coffers of the respective supra-municipal corporations and are not put to any use.
Diets that are close to a thousand euros per month
In practice, the effects of this decision will be limited to the fees generated by attendance at the Provincial Council and the AMB, since full-time councilors do not charge for attending Barcelona City Council. In the Provincial Council, the fee for attending a monthly plenary session is 973 euros, while for attending the information commissions and the special accounts commission is 446 euros. In the Barcelona metropolitan area, the fee for attending the Metropolitan Council is 368 euros, while those for the commissions range between 168 and 420 euros. In both cases these bodies meet once a month. Attendance at the governing meeting – biweekly – and spokespersons – monthly – is remunerated with 420 and 578 euros, respectively.
BComú sources assure that they have not yet calculated what monthly amount they can earn thanks to these allowances, since it depends on the type of session and, furthermore, not all of their councilors are members of the two entities.
Salaries capped and in the process of being updated
BComú officials, both elected and advisors, have their salaries capped in compliance with its ethical code, which means that the surplus between their real salary and the salary they earn in application of these internal rules is given to the party. With a starting amount of 2,200 euros per month, at the end of the first term in Government, the party decided to raise the salary of the mayor by 40% and that of her councilors by 27%. The decision was made when realizing that with the dedication required by the council, there was an overload of work that required issues such as hiring babysitters, help at home, or eating a set menu every day.
At the July congress, the organization decided to update the salary limits again to adjust them to the responsibilities of each position. As approved by the training plenary session in October, the management of BComú must prepare a “financial letter” that defines a new salary scale. Likewise, the regulations of the code of ethics establish that the maximum net salary cannot be “greater than four times the net salary of the SMI” at the time this letter is approved.
According to its internal regulations, BComú must have the financial letter ready at least six months before the elections. This document will establish two salary assumptions: one, if they reach the municipal government, and another if they remain in the opposition. Sources from the organization say that they continue working on that document, within the framework of the new political cycle that the party opened after its refoundation congress, in July 2025, and the election of the new executive, in December.
Shortly after, in February, he proclaimed Gerardo Pisarello as a candidate for mayor accompanied by councilor Carol Recio. The tandem won a primary over comedian and screenwriter Bob Pop and his number 2, the councilor of the Eixample district Mar Trallero. Within the framework of this renewal process, BComú has presented this week its new corporate image, which changes the orange tones for red and modifies its logo: it has gone from a spiral to a letter C with a rhombus inspired by the corners of Eixample.
