The municipalities of Alcantarilla and Cartagena were awarded the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) at a ceremony held in Murcia, Spain, on 6 February 2026, with Congress support. Both have obtained the ELoGE award for the second time, after first achieving the distinction in 2022.

ELoGE is benchmarking process based on the 12 Principles of good democratic governance; it is awarded to municipalities which can demonstrate that they have achieved a high level of performance against those standards. In the Autonomous Community of Murcia, ELoGE is implemented by the Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia (FMRM).

Representatives of the awarded municipalities emphasised the value of the ELoGE assessment process for ensuring European standards of democratic participation, public ethics and continuous improvements to local governance. Mayor of Alcantarilla Francisca Terol said in particular that: "For Alcantarilla, renewing the ELoGE seal is not a symbolic gesture; it is the result of constant work to maintain transparency, efficiency, and public accountability. And, in the current climate of growing distrust towards institutions, it is an example that when one works with a vocation for public service, politics can indeed generate trust."