Building is today more expensive than a few years ago, and this is also noticeable in public works. The increase in the price of energy, fuels, and some materials is pressuring the margins of companies in the sector and complicating some public tenders. In fact, during the first half of 2026, 192 works or lots have been left deserted in Catalonia due to lack of an awarding company, according to data from the Chamber of Works Contractors of Catalonia (CCOC). In the Barcelona demarcation, there have been 80 deserted actions.
That an administration puts a work out to tender does not mean that there is automatically a company willing to execute it. Before starting, the Administration sets conditions, a project, and a budget, and construction companies decide if they can present themselves and undertake the work with those numbers. And when no company that meets the tender conditions presents itself, the tender is left deserted.
Deserted does not mean, however, that the work disappears or is discarded, but simply that it cannot be awarded at that moment, and the Administration will have to review what has happened. In many cases, this review involves adjusting the project or the budget and putting the action out to tender again later.
Given this situation, the Chamber of Works Contractors of Catalonia points to tender budgets that, in some cases, no longer match the real market costs as one of the causes of this imbalance. The rising cost of energy, fuels, and certain materials, aggravated by the war and instability in the Middle East, has increased the cost of executing many works, and this can leave little margin for companies when presenting themselves for a tender.
For this reason, the CCOC demands "to update prices with more agility" and to have mechanisms that allow facing extraordinary cost increases. A particularly relevant issue in contracts that were prepared when prices were lower.
In total, the 192 works or lots that have been left deserted in Catalonia during the first half amount to 50.93 million euros of budget without VAT. In the Barcelona demarcation, the 80 actions represent 19.23 million euros and correspond to projects of very varied types: roads, sanitation, public facilities, and building, among others.
Among the projects with the largest budget are the sanitation and purification project for the towns of Aldover and Xerta, in Baix Ebre, with 2.93 million euros. Two projects by the Diputació de Lleida also remained without an awardee: the improvement of the LV-5055 road, between the N-230 and Vilamòs, budgeted at 2.74 million, and the improvement and stabilization of slopes on the LV-9124, for 2.41 million. In the case of the Generalitat, the expansion and renovation of the Vielha ABP police station had a budget of 2.11 million euros.
By territory, Tarragona registers 44 deserted projects, with a budget of 9.95 million euros, while Girona adds 31, for 7.41 million. Lleida accounts for 26 works or lots without an awardee, but its budget exceeds 12 million euros, mainly due to the weight of some road projects with high budgets.
Among the municipal projects are the urbanization of action unit number 2 of Mirador del Penedès, in Montmell, for 1.85 million euros; the construction of a new municipal nursery school in Lloret de Mar, for 1.35 million, and the adaptation of facilities and facades of pavilion 6 of Mercabarna, for 1.22 million.
These are very different projects, but they all have in common that, at the time of bidding, they have not found a company willing to undertake them under the established conditions. And this lack of margin is also reflected in the low competition among companies. During the first half of 2026, 38% of public works tendered in Catalonia received only one or two offers, a figure that, according to the CCOC, highlights the difficulties of some tenders in attracting companies.
Costs pressure construction companies
What happens with these tenders is also a reflection of the situation experienced by the construction sector. According to the Confederación Nacional de la Construcción (CNC), nine out of ten Spanish construction companies are already affected by rising costs, especially due to the increase in energy, fuel, and certain raw materials. The employers' association also estimates that 56% of companies have slowed down their activity for this reason.
Roads are one of the areas where this pressure is most evident. The CNC estimates that cost overruns can reach 15% in maintenance operations and up to 30% in pavement rehabilitation.
Given this scenario, contractors demand that administrations update bidding budgets more quickly and that contracts incorporate mechanisms to cope with extraordinary cost increases. “It is essential that works are tendered with budgets adjusted to real market costs,” claims the president of the CCOC, Lluís Moreno.