The report of the Court of Auditors, equivalent to the Court of Auditors in France, highlights undeclared campaign expenses with a total value of 189,497 euros.

These funds come, for the most part, from the platform on which Manuel Valls had submitted his application. 

Unreported costs and exceeding the authorized ceiling: the Spanish Court of Auditors pinned the campaign expenses for the Barcelona municipal elections of May 2019 of former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, according to an official report whose existence was revealed by the Spanish press.

Manuel Valls came fourth in the municipal elections in his hometown with the support of the anti-independence liberal party Ciudadanos, after the failure of his presidential ambitions in 2017 in France.

The report of the Court of Auditors (equivalent to the Court of Auditors in France), approved by this body on February 25 and recently made public on its website, highlights undeclared campaign expenses with a total value of 189,497 euros .

Third party funding

These funds come, for the most part, from the "Association Barcelona Capital Europea", the platform on which Manuel Valls had applied before forming a coalition with independents and members of Ciudadanos.

Used for the benefit of the electoral campaign, this money should have come from the coalition and not from the association, considered as "a third person", underlines the report.

The financing by third parties "of the acquisition of goods, works or services or of any expenditure generated by the activity of political parties constitutes an irregularity punishable by sanctions", explains the Court of Accounts.

Exceeding the authorized limit

In addition, the report points to the exceeding of the authorized limit of expenditure, set at 178,237 euros for this election.

The team of Mr. Valls, now city councilor in Barcelona, ​​spent 126,819 euros more, an excess of 71.15%, for a total of 305,056 euros.

The Tribunal specifies that it has forwarded its report to the Spanish Parliament and Government.

A year ago, the former French Prime Minister seemed to send signals about a possible return to France by granting several interviews to media in France.


At the beginning of March, Manuel Valls indicated that he would not run for mayor of Barcelona in 2023.