The annual report from the municipal intervention confirms that the City Council of Seville meets major economic indicators, but denounces poor management: expired contracts, lack of planning, and massive use of exceptional procedures.
The intervention department of the City Council of Seville has put in writing what many suspected: the council is solvent on paper, but stumbles in its day-to-day management. The control report for the 2025 fiscal year, which this newspaper has accessed, outlines an administration that meets budgetary stability and payment deadlines, but drags structural deficiencies in planning and contracting.
The document identifies a recurring pattern across all areas: lack of foresight, contracts that expire without a prepared replacement, and expenses that are regularised afterwards. The problem, according to the intervention, is not a lack of money, but how it is managed.
Public Procurement: 169 Files Without Prior Control
One of the most striking data points is that during 2025, 169 files were processed with the omission of the intervention function, amounting to over 9.25 million euros. 92% of this corresponds to administrative contracting. Most of these incidents are due to contracts being de facto extended or services continuing to be provided without contractual coverage, according to the intervention.
The origin lies in the lack of planning for the lifecycle of contracts. Essential services such as maintenance, surveillance, energy, or technology continue to be provided when contracts have already expired because new tenders do not arrive in time. The result is that the City Council subsequently regularises expenses that should have been anticipated.
Extrajudicial Credit Recognition: The Exception Becomes the Norm
The report also warns of the almost systematic use of extrajudicial credit recognition, a mechanism designed for exceptional situations. It was used in 93.5% of the files with the omission of oversight, which, according to the intervention, shifts control from a preventive phase to mere subsequent regularisation.
Another of the most questioned areas is personnel management. During 2025, 31 suspensive objections were raised, with an economic impact exceeding 5.3 million euros, concentrated almost entirely in Human Resources. The incidents affect bonuses, productivity, and extraordinary services of the Local Police and Firefighters executed without prior authorisation or without sufficient credit.
The subsidy activity also does not fare well. The report denounces widespread delays in the justification of aid, continuous modifications of the Strategic Subsidy Plan, and planning that loses its meaning by constantly adapting to incorporate unanticipated subsidies.
The Intervention Also Looks in the Mirror: Lack of Resources
The conclusion of the intervention is clear: many incidents are not isolated errors, but structural weaknesses. Therefore, it proposes an action plan that includes a corporate contractual planning system, early warnings about expirations, common instructions, and a reorganisation of subsidy activity.
However, the report also directs attention to the control body itself. The intervention argues that it operates with structural insufficiency of personal, technical, and technological resources, which prevents the full deployment of the intended control model. It calls for a new job structure, strengthening the Financial Control Service, and modernising IT systems to reduce manual workload.
For the residents of Seville, this report has practical consequences: less efficient municipal management can translate into delays in services, works, or aid. The City Council will have to decide whether to implement the intervention's recommendations to prevent problems from becoming chronic. For now, the document is on the mayor's desk and with the municipal groups, who will need to take note.
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