# Public funding of Spanish parties and their foundations: how much, how it flows and what to change

> Spanish parties live mostly on public money: in 2020, 73% of the €245 million they received came from public funds, and only €2 million from private donations, according to the Court of Audit. The largest public stream is the money parliamentary and council groups pass to their parties, ahead of the frozen state subsidy of about €52.7 million a year. Party foundations received €2.1 million in public subsidies in 2023. Democracia 21 wants to cut both. The radical-centre version replaces part of the flat subsidy with German-style matching of small donations and fees, caps public money at the level of what a party raises itself and closes the foundations' company-donation gap.

- URL: https://www.radicalcentre.eu/en/articles/public-funding-spanish-parties-foundations
- Language: en
- Publisher: radical centre / centro radical
- Published: 2026-10-15
- Topic: Democracy & institutions
- Author: radical centre
- Licence: CC BY 4.0

## Key points

- In 2020 Spanish parties received €245 million; 73% was public money and private donations came to just €2 million, according to the Court of Audit.
- 58% of the public money was contributions from parliamentary and local council groups: €65 million and €39 million respectively.
- The state subsidy for running costs is €52.7 million a year, frozen since 2016 and split one third by seats and two thirds by votes.
- Party foundations received €2.1 million in public subsidies and €4.7 million in private donations in 2023; foundations may still accept money from companies.
- Germany matches every euro of donations and fees up to €3,300 per person with €0.45 and caps a party's state funding at what it raises itself.

Among the clean-up measures in Miriam González's launch speech for [Democracia 21](/en/articles/democracia-21-miriam-gonzalez-proposals-radical-centre) was a cut in the subsidies that parties and their foundations receive. The proposal touches a nerve, because few voters know how much public money their parties get or how it reaches them. The Court of Audit, the Tribunal de Cuentas, does know, and its reports give a clear picture.

## How much, and from where

The legal framework is Organic Law 8/2007 on party financing, tightened in 2015. Parties with seats in Congress receive annual unconditional subsidies from the state budget, split one third by seats and two thirds by votes. Regional governments can add their own. Elections bring separate subsidies. And parliamentary and council groups, which receive public grants from the chambers and city halls, pass part of that money on to their parties. On the private side, parties can take donations only from individuals, up to €50,000 a year per person. Donations from companies have been banned since 2015.

The Court of Audit's latest audit of party accounts covers 2020. It examined 25 parties with total income of €245 million. 73% of that money was public: €179 million. The breakdown is revealing. The largest stream, 58%, came from institutional groups: €65 million passed on by parliamentary groups and €39 million by groups in local councils. State subsidies made up 31%, electoral subsidies 6% and regional governments 5%. Private income totalled €66 million, almost all of it from members' fees (€27 million) and contributions from the party's own officeholders (€29 million). Private donations came to just €2 million. The same report found total party bank debt of €79 million.

The state budget line itself is modest by comparison and has stood still. As Infobae reported in 2024, it is €52.7 million a year, frozen since 2016, with the PP receiving about €18.9 million and the PSOE about €14.8 million under the rolled-over budget.

Foundations are a smaller story in money and a bigger one in governance. The Court's audit of 2023, published in September 2026, covered 37 foundations and entities linked to parties. Together they received €4.7 million in private donations and €2.1 million in public subsidies. Fifteen filed their accounts on time, eighteen late, four never. Only 22 were registered in the Interior Ministry's party register, as the law requires; ten had no activity; fourteen had not published their accounts. Unlike parties, foundations can still receive money from companies, with a formal board decision, and the €50,000 cap does not apply to them.

## Where Democracia 21's cut would bite

The numbers change the debate. A cut to foundations' public subsidies saves little: €2.1 million a year spread across dozens of entities. The real problems there are transparency and the company-donation route, which lets firms fund a party's think tank when they cannot fund the party. A cut to the state subsidy is more significant, but the largest flow, the group contributions, comes through parliaments and councils and is easy to overlook. Any serious reform has to cover all three.

The deeper issue is dependency. Albert Hirschman's *Exit, Voice, and Loyalty*, which we [explain today](/en/articles/hirschman-exit-voice-loyalty-explained), argues that organisations recover when the people they serve can leave or complain and the organisation feels it. A party whose income is three-quarters public, and whose private income comes largely from its own officeholders, barely feels its supporters leaving. Members' exit costs it almost nothing, so their voice carries little weight. Spain's young people, who as we saw [on day 8](/en/articles/young-spaniards-parties-democracy-data-hirschman) are drifting away from parties, are sending exactly that signal.

## A better deal

Germany offers a working alternative. Its Parties Act treats public money as partial funding. Parties receive an amount per vote, currently €1.24 for each of the first four million votes and €1.02 after that, and €0.45 for every euro they raise in fees and donations, counting only up to €3,300 per person. A party's state funding can never exceed what it raises itself, and the total is capped, at €232 million for 2026.

That is the shape of a Matthew Miller-style [grand bargain](/en/articles/what-is-a-grand-bargain-in-politics), with something for each side. The left keeps what matters most: politics stays publicly funded, so that parties do not depend on the rich, and the ban on company donations stays. The right and the market-liberal tradition get a leaner and more demanding system: less flat subsidy and parties that must earn support from citizens. The piece that belongs to neither is the incentive design that comes from Hirschman.

In practice we would reduce the flat state subsidy and redirect part of it into matching funds for small donations and members' fees, with a per-person ceiling on what counts. We would cap each party's total public funding, including the money passed on by groups, at the amount it raises from private individuals. We would require parliamentary and council groups to publish every transfer to their party. And we would apply party rules to foundations: no company donations, the same €50,000 cap, mandatory registration as a condition for any subsidy, external audits above an income threshold, as the Court itself recommends, and dissolution for those that stay inactive.

The result spends public money on parties that listen to people. A party that wants more public funding has to persuade more citizens to give it a few euros. That gives Democracia 21's instinct a firmer footing: cut where the money buys dependency, and pay where it buys a connection to voters.

## FAQ

### How are political parties funded in Spain?

Mainly with public money. Organic Law 8/2007 provides annual state subsidies for parties with seats in Congress, electoral subsidies, regional subsidies and contributions from parliamentary and council groups. Private income comes from membership fees, contributions from officeholders and donations from individuals, capped at €50,000 a year each.

### How much public money do Spanish parties receive?

The Court of Audit counted €179 million in public resources out of €245 million of total income for the 25 parties it audited for 2020. The state budget line for ordinary running costs is €52.7 million a year.

### Can companies donate to Spanish parties?

No. Since the 2015 reform, parties cannot receive donations from companies or other legal persons. Foundations linked to parties can, with a formal agreement of the company's board, and the €50,000 cap does not apply to them.

### How much money do party foundations receive in Spain?

In 2023 the 37 foundations and entities linked to parties audited by the Court of Audit received €4.7 million in private donations and €2.1 million in public subsidies. Four did not file accounts and only 22 were registered as the law requires.

## Sources

- [Ley Orgánica 8/2007, de 4 de julio, sobre financiación de los partidos políticos](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-13022), Boletín Oficial del Estado (2007)
- [Resumen del Informe de fiscalización n.º 1.573: estados contables de los partidos políticos, ejercicio 2020](https://tcu.es/export/sites/portal/repositorio2/resumen/NR_I1573.pdf), Tribunal de Cuentas (2024)
- [Las fundaciones vinculadas a partidos políticos recibieron 4,7 millones en donaciones privadas y 2,1 millones en subvenciones públicas en 2023](https://www.tcu.es/es/Comunicacion-y-Espacio-Divulgativo/Las-fundaciones-vinculadas-a-partidos-politicos-recibieron-47-millones-en-donaciones-privadas-y-21-millones-en-subvenciones-publicas-en-2023/), Tribunal de Cuentas (2026)
- [Este es el dinero que recibe cada partido político de España en subvenciones](https://www.infobae.com/espana/2024/02/22/este-es-el-dinero-que-recibe-cada-partido-politico-de-espana-en-subvenciones/), Infobae (2024)
- [§ 18 Parteiengesetz: Grundsätze und Umfang der staatlichen Finanzierung](https://www.buzer.de/18_PartG.htm), buzer.de (Parteiengesetz) (2024)
- [Absolute Obergrenze der Parteienfinanzierung steigt](https://www.bundestag.de/presse/hib/kurzmeldungen-1179042), Deutscher Bundestag (2026)