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Catalonia accelerates digitalisation and eliminates hundreds of administrative procedures
Dealing with the administration will become increasingly faster in Catalonia. The Generalitat has launched a plan to simplify more than 210 procedures and reduce bureaucracy in services that form part of thousands of people's everyday lives. The initiative is already transforming procedures related to healthcare, education, registration of stable couples or agricultural activity.
One of the most visible changes is in healthcare. Patients can now authorise certain medical procedures through La Meva Salut, without having to go to the health centre in person. This system has made it possible to process hundreds of thousands of informed consents online, reducing travel and speeding up care.
Registering stable partnerships has also been simplified. The new procedure allows one person to start the application and the other to validate it electronically, eliminating much of the paperwork that previously had to be submitted and reducing processing times.
In education, the new pool of teaching staff makes it easier to cover substitute positions. Applicants receive offers in real time via an app and can accept or decline them immediately, speeding up the process of joining schools and reducing unfilled vacancies.
The changes also extend to the agricultural sector. Procedures related to pest control, machinery registration and other authorisations now use simpler forms and more streamlined processes, one of the main demands the sector had raised with the administration in recent years.
The plan, called Catgirem, has an investment of over 11 million euros. Its objectives include replacing more than 1,800 PDF forms with digital processes, incorporating artificial intelligence tools into dozens of procedures, and reducing millions of hours of administrative work each year.
The Generalitat plans to expand this reform with a second phase that will continue to review procedures and train public employees to modernise services for citizens. The aim is for more and more procedures to be completed from home, with less paperwork, shorter waits and a simpler relationship with the administration.
The digitalisation of public services has become a major priority for European administrations. Reducing bureaucracy, avoiding unnecessary travel and making it easier to access procedures not only improves the experience for citizens, but also allows administrations to become more efficient and devote more resources to providing essential services.