Webs municipales del País Vasco y Navarra: Importancia de la dimensión de servicios y retraso en el aspecto informativo / Municipal Websites in the Basque Country and Navarre: Importance of the Services Dimension and Lag in the News Aspect

This study analyses the municipal websites of Basque Country and Navarre municipalities with over 10,000 inhabitants, highlighting a strong orientation toward service provision and administrative management through electronic administration (e-administration). Drawing upon a detailed content audit based on José Manuel Cerezo’s analytical framework, the research categorises the digital performance of 48 local government websites. The findings indicate a predominant emphasis on usability and transactional services, with less focus on news content and citizen participation tools, such as forums or online consultations. The paper underscores the untapped potential of municipal websites to become platforms for civic engagement and local news dissemination, emphasising the need for integrated communication policies. Despite notable advances in digital service delivery, the study reveals a persistent communicative deficit, particularly regarding participatory democracy and synergy with local media. The research suggests that for municipal websites to evolve into genuine citizen portals, they must balance management functions with proactive information sharing and participatory features. This paper contributes to the fields of e-government, local communication, and digital civic engagement, proposing practical criteria to evaluate the social communicative performance of municipal platforms in the information society.