The Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol Occidental has allocated €845,432.60 to Estepona as part of the 2026 Joint Investment Plan (PIM), which was approved during an extraordinary Assembly session on July 28th. This funding is a portion of the total €7,046,659.83 designated for eleven municipalities within the region, aimed at enabling local governments to finance projects and services that directly benefit residents under the campaign slogan “More Investment. More Costa del Sol.”
This announcement is part of a new edition of the PIM, which redistributes part of the treasury surplus among municipalities including Benahavís, Benalmádena, Casares, Estepona, Fuengirola, Istán, Manilva, Marbella, Mijas, Ojén, and Torremolinos. The Assembly finalized the plan on July 28, 2026, utilizing the surplus from the previous fiscal year.
Each municipality receives funds through a dual distribution system. This includes a fixed amount for all towns, aimed at supporting the smaller ones, and a variable portion calculated based on each municipality’s statutory participation coefficient. As a result, the final amounts allocated can vary significantly between municipalities. For comparison, Mijas will receive €885,603.44 for renovating the roof of its La Cala sports center, making it the second-highest recipient after Marbella. Estepona’s allocation positions it among the top municipalities receiving funds, reflecting its considerable population size in the area.
Moreover, municipalities are required to submit detailed requests, proposing up to two investment projects that justify their needs, outline objectives, break down the budget, and provide a timeline for execution.
The PIM 2026 funding is not unrestricted; the Mancomunidad specifies which areas municipalities can invest in. The approved conditions categorize eligible projects into six major action areas. Municipalities can choose specific projects within these categories and then submit proposals to the Mancomunidad, which will handle the bidding and execution of the work. For instance, Mijas has decided to allocate its entire funding to a single sports project, while Estepona must determine whether to focus its funds on one project or distribute them across multiple initiatives.
Given Estepona’s active tourism sector, expanding sanitation network due to urban growth, and commitment to environmental sustainability, the areas of beaches, water cycle management, and urban environment seem to be the most likely targets for this new funding, although the municipality has yet to publicly announce its chosen projects.
This funding coincides with a period of significant budget activity in Estepona. In November 2025, the municipal council approved a €132 million budget for 2026, which includes over €27 million for investments and the largest tax reduction in the municipality’s history. The €845,432.60 from the PIM is not included in this municipal budget; instead, it represents additional external funding managed through the Mancomunidad.
Regional funds like these have become a regular supplementary financing source for Costa del Sol municipalities, allowing them to combine their own budgets with external contributions to carry out projects that might otherwise face delays.
Once the agreement between the Estepona City Council and the Mancomunidad is formalized, the council will need to finalize the specific use of the €845,432.60 and present the definitive projects for bidding. Estepona Info will continue to provide updates as the municipality discloses the details of the selected initiatives and their execution timelines, as well as the distribution of the PIM 2026 funds among neighboring municipalities.