8.6 million for phase II of the Canal de Villadangos irrigation system

The Agricultural Technological Institute of Castilla y León (ITACyL) has approved the irrigation modernization project for the Villadangos Canal Irrigation Community (León), phase II, with a base tender budget of 8,660,878.13 euros. The resolution was signed by the general director of the organization, David González Huerta, on October 14, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León no. 204, of October 21, 2026, in section I.D of other provisions (reference BOCYL-D-21102026-204-18). The project carries the PEP code 2026/000178, and its advertising process has affected the town councils of Villadangos del Páramo and Cimanes del Tejar.

ITACyL is a public entity under private law attached to the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment, and Environmental Policy of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, and it assumed competencies in the development of irrigable areas following the modification carried out by Law 2/2017, of July 4. The modernization works for this irrigation community have been declared of general interest by Law 14/2000, of December 29, and their execution is organized through the agreement signed on November 22, 2021, between the regional administration, through ITACyL, the State Agricultural Infrastructure Company, S.A. (SEIASA), and the irrigation community itself.

Phase II follows the approval of phase I by resolution of August 18, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León no. 162, of August 21, 2026, with a base tender budget of 10,474,430.51 euros and code 2022/000177. Both phases are part of the “Plan for the improvement of efficiency and sustainability in irrigation” linked to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

A budget of 8.66 million and E-7 classification

The resolution specifies the economic and administrative parameters under which the contract will be issued:

• Base tender budget: 8,660,878.13 euros (eight million six hundred sixty thousand eight hundred seventy-eight euros and thirteen cents).
• Project drafting: agricultural engineer Teodoro Martínez García, member no. 642 of the Official College of Agricultural Engineers of Castilla y León and Cantabria.
• Required classification for works contractors: Group E, Subgroup 7.
• Prior technical report: October 7, 2026, from the Engineering and Projects unit of the Sub-directorate of Agricultural Infrastructure of ITACyL.
• Proposed resolution: October 13, 2026, from the sub-director of Agricultural Infrastructure.

The text is based on article 134 of the General Regulation of the Public Administration Contracts Law. In phase I, the fixed classification was more demanding, with Group E, Subgroup 7, Category 6.

Public information without objections

The project was subject to the public information process provided for in Article 83 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, with advertisements placed in several media outlets:

• Official Gazette of Castilla y León no. 152, of August 7, 2026.
• Official Gazette of the Province of León no. 150, of August 10, 2026.
• La Nueva Crónica newspaper, of August 11, 2026.
• Notice boards of the town halls of Villadangos del Páramo and Cimanes del Tejar.

The expropriation annex containing the list of affected assets and rights was on display for 20 business days at the Territorial Unit of León of ITACyL and in both town halls. According to the resolution, no objections were submitted during the process; therefore, the final list of affected parties coincides with the one published in August.

Expropriations already underway and appeal process

The availability of the land is being resolved separately. Order AGR/928/2026, of September 17, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León no. 186, of September 24, 2026, initiated the compulsory expropriation proceedings for Phase I via the urgency procedure and designated the Irrigators’ Community of the Villadangos Canal as the beneficiary. This action affects 2,954 hectares within the municipal boundaries of Bustillo del Páramo, Chozas de Abajo, San Pedro Bercianos, Valdevimbre, and Villadangos del Páramo.

An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against the now-published resolution before the Vice-Counselor for Community Agricultural Policy and Rural Environment within one month from the day following its publication in the gazette.

The approval of Phase II unlocks the bidding process for the part of the project corresponding to ITACyL and completes, together with Phase I and the works by SEIASA, the modernization of an irrigable area of nearly 3,000 hectares in the Leonese Páramo. For the irrigators of Villadangos del Páramo and Cimanes del Tejar, this step marks the entry into the contractual phase of a pressurized irrigation infrastructure intended to reduce consumption and energy costs in a region with significant agricultural importance.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 204, of October 21, 2026, section I.D (Other provisions), pp. 49-50 (official reference: BOCYL-D-21102026-204-18).