The Xunta grants Cupire Padesa a slate research permit in Valdeorras

The Department of Economy and Industry of the Xunta de Galicia has publicized the granting to Cupire Padesa, SL of a slate research permit covering seven mining grids within the municipal terms of Carballeda de Valdeorras (Ourense) and Benuza (León). The announcement, dated September 7, 2026, was disseminated in the Official Gazette of the Province of Ourense on October 27, 2026, within section III, Autonomous Community, with reference R. 2.166, and responds to the resolution of the Director General of Energy Policy and Mines of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. The permit has a duration of three years and affects a territory in the Valdeorras region that extends into the neighboring province of León.

The specific terms of the permit

The announcement, signed by the territorial director of Ourense, Jorge Pumar Tesouro, details the circumstances of the permit granted to the company Cubiertas de Pizarras Reunidas y Agrupadas de Exportación Sociedad Limitada, which operates under the abbreviated name Cupire Padesa, SL. The file is identified as «Padesa II 2nd fraction» no. 4088.

The published conditions are as follows:

• File: «Padesa II 2nd fraction» no. 4088.
• Resource to be investigated: resources of section C, slate.
• Holding company: Cupire Padesa, SL.
• Duration period: three years.
• Municipal terms: Carballeda de Valdeorras (Ourense) and Benuza (León).
• Surface area: seven (7) mining grids.

The designation «2nd fraction» indicates that the permit refers to a part of a larger mining area, although the announcement does not detail the exact delimitation of the grids nor their extension in hectares. The text also does not specify the coordinates, the vertices of the requested area, nor the work program planned for the three years of validity.

A mining area crossing two provinces

The most singular element of the granting is its territorial scope: the affected surface is divided between Carballeda de Valdeorras, in the northwest of the province of Ourense, and Benuza, already in the Leonese region of Bierzo. This means that the research permit has an impact on two autonomous communities, Galicia and Castile and León, although the processing and publication are channeled through the Territorial Department of Ourense of the Department of Economy and Industry.

Slate is one of the traditional resources of the Valdeorras region, and the published text does not provide data on planned extraction volumes nor on the number of associated jobs, because it is a research permit and not an exploitation concession. The difference between the two figures is relevant: research limits its objective to studying and evaluating the resource, not extracting it.

Legal basis and consultation channels

The announcement is justified by current mining regulations. The publicity is carried out, according to the text itself, “for general knowledge,” in accordance with the provisions of Article 78.2 of the Mining Law (Law 22/1973, of July 21) and Article 101.5 of the General Regulation for the Mining Regime (Royal Decree 2857/1978, of August 25).

Furthermore, the document invokes the publicity obligations established in Article 29 of Law 1/2016, of January 18, on transparency and good governance. In application of this norm, the full text can be examined on the transparency portal of the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the Xunta de Galicia, under the heading of administrative authorizations and mining installations.

The announcement closes with the signature of the territorial director in Ourense, dated September 7, 2026, while its dissemination in the provincial bulletin produces official publicity effects almost seven weeks later.

Why it matters

The publication opens a new episode in the extractive activity of Valdeorras, a region where slate has economic weight and where any movement on the ground directly affects neighbors, property owners, and companies in the sector. The fact that the permit extends to seven grids distributed between Ourense and León adds a supramunicipal and even inter-autonomous dimension to the file, while the three-year term marks the maximum duration of the investigation phase. The announcement does not open a process for allegations, but rather communicates a decision already made, hence the interest in consulting the file on the ministry’s transparency portal.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Ourense, October 27, 2026, section III. Autonomous Community (official reference: R. 2.166).