The story of 21 million invisible transactions: this is how it works Via Oberta for local authorities
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Imagine Laura. She goes to her town hall to apply for social assistance. Ten years ago, she would have had to go back home to get her income tax return, a certificate of registration, and even, perhaps, a document from the SEPE proving that she is not receiving unemployment benefits. Three procedures, three windows, three queues.
Today Laura leaves the city hall with the application registered in a single procedure. She doesn't know it, but at the very moment she signs, the city hall has already silently consulted her income from the AEAT, her register and her situation in the SEPE. No paper has changed hands. There is a simple principle behind it: the Administration should not ask citizens for data that is already in the possession of another public administration. These invisible transactions are Via Oberta, and in 2026 (until August) more than21 million, only by Catalan local authorities.
A service that works while no one is watching
Via Oberta is the infrastructure that allows town halls, county councils, provincial councils and related organizations to consult data from other administrations —DGT, AEAT, SEPE, CatSalut, Social Security, Civil Registries, and many more— without the citizen having to act as an intermediary, photocopier in hand.
This way of working is only possible thanks to cooperation between administrations, which securely share the data necessary to provide better services to citizens.
The figures for 2026 give the true measure of this fundamental work:
21.235.944 consultations made by local authorities during the year (until August).
671 local entities active in the last 12 months (867 if you look at the complete history).
29 million queries accumulated in the last 12 months, and 304 million since the service has existed.
These are numbers so large that they are hard to imagine. That's why it's worth taking a closer look: who is behind these 21 million transactions, and what stories do they tell?
The undisputed protagonist: traffic
Si Via Oberta if it had a main character, it would be the DGT Vehicle and Driver Registry. With 11.816.316 queries, he takes it alone 55,64 % of all the use made of it by local bodies. It is no coincidence: This data is essential for managing numerous municipal procedures related to mobility and vehicles, from processing parking reservations for people with reduced mobility to managing incidents on public roads, identifying vehicle owners or processing traffic-related files. It is the silent backbone of municipal management of mobility and vehicles.
Behind vehicle-related inquiries, the distribution of activity Via Oberta becomes more diverse—and more human:
#
Query
Inquiries
% of the total
1
Vehicle and Driver Registry (DGT)
11.816.316
55,64 %
2
Municipal population register
1.966.674
9,26 %
3
Road electronic address (DEV)
1.791.836
8,44 %
4
Debtors of the IVTM
1.017.523
4,79 %
5
Income (AEAT)
937.873
4,42 %
6
Identitat
811.636
3,82 %
7
Unemployment benefits (SEPE)
511.663
2,41 %
8
Disabilities
380.158
1,79 %
9
Central Register of Insureds (CATSALUT)
317.742
1,50 %
10
Civil Registers
253.781
1,20 %
Between the ten, they account for more than 93% of all use by local authorities. However, each one tells a different story of the relationship between citizens and the Administration:
El Municipal register is the city council confirming who lives and where to issue certificates and resolve applications. The road email is the notification of a fine that no longer requires a postman. The AEAT income is the gateway to grants and scholarships, without having to submit a paper declaration. IVTM debtors are the tax administration doing its job in silence. The identity check confirm who the person iseresin the procedure. The SEPE benefits and recognition of a disability support the assessment of social assistance. The CatSalut Insured Persons Register proves health coverage. The data of the Civil Registry They close the decalogue and are used to update registers and prove changes in the family situation that are a requirement for aid, a benefit or for the intervention of social services.
Where does all this information end up?
These queries do not remain in an abstract data query cloud: they feed specific municipal procedures, with names and surnames:
Procedure
Related queries
%
Traffic reports
4.724.391
22,25 %
Seizures for tax debts
4.200.839
19,78 %
Notification and/or administrative communication
2.593.352
12,21 %
Aid, subsidies and scholarships
1.767.757
8,32 %
Management of parking areas
1.125.866
5,30 %
Social benefits
1.058.919
4,99 %
IVTM Debtors
1.017.523
4,79 %
Liquidations / Self-liquidations of the IVTM
861.651
4,06 %
The photograph is clear: almost the half of all activity is concentrated in transit and tax collection procedures. But right behind, the procedures related to grants, subsidies and scholarships show that Via Oberta It also contributes to making access to public benefits easier, avoiding people having to prove information over and over again that is already in the possession of other administrations.
Who tells this story most forcefully?
Not all local authorities make the same use of the service. Via Oberta; there is a direct link with the number of inhabitants they represent or, with the volume of procedures they manage:
#
Local entity
Inquiries
1
Barcelona City Council
4.064.586
2
City of Tarragona
4.029.181
3
Tax Management Agency (ORGT)
3.691.556
4
Local Network of Girona Municipalities (XALOC)
1.581.033
5
Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
1.253.513
6
City Council of Terrassa
732.593
7
AOC
620.657
8
AMB Information and Services, SA
620.373
9
Olot City Council
442.420
10
Lleida City Council
403.118
It is not surprising that Barcelona, Tarragona or Terrassa top the list: the more population, the more procedures. But there is an interesting twisteresholy in the plot: ORGT and XALOC —tax management bodies that work for dozens of small and medium-sized municipalities— climb to third and fourth place. And this changes the reading of the data. We are not talking about a single city council, but about a network of municipalities that, thanks to sharing the same management structure, can benefit from Via Oberta with the same power as a large city. It is a good example that intermunicipal cooperation is not just a good idea on paper: it is also an effective way for smaller municipalities to access, on equal terms, the advantages of interoperability, representant an important role in this story.
Savings: what is not seen but is noticeable
Let's go back to Laura. Multiply it by millions of transactions and the savings stop being an abstract number and become time saved, travel avoided and paper that has never been printed. Only in the last 12 months, the Local authorities have saved 97 million euros in these costs and, since the service has existed, the figure has already exceeded 1.406 million euros.
The savings are remarkable but perhaps the most valuable thing is not what can be counted in euros. What really matters is having achieved an Administration that no longer forces citizens to act as liaisons with itself. Each of these 21 million consultations representa, in essence, a slightly simpler procedure, a slightly shorter queue and a person who was able to do what they needed without having to deal with the bureaucracy of the Administration.
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