Adif and Cuenca extend the railway land integration agreement until 2030

Adif, the Provincial Council of Cuenca, and the Cuenca City Council have extended for four more years, until September 19, 2030, the agreement governing the urban integration of the railway lands of line 03-310 Aranjuez–Valencia Fuente de San Luis as it passes through the capital of Cuenca. The modifying and extension addendum, signed on September 2, 2026, is published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 264, of October 24, 2026, section III, page 142641, by resolution of Adif dated September 3, 2026 (official reference BOE-A-2026-22281).

The text is based on article 48.8 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, and bears the signature of the president of the public business entity, Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, along with that of the mayor of Cuenca, Darío Dolz Fernández, and the president of the Provincial Council, Álvaro Martínez Chana.

A 2022 agreement with 2.16 million in investment

The master agreement was signed on September 16, 2022, registered in the State Electronic Registry of Cooperation Bodies and Instruments on September 19 of that year, and published in the Official State Gazette no. 272, of November 12, 2022 (reference BOE-A-2022-18575). Its initial validity was four years, extendable for another four.

The financing of all actions corresponds entirely to Adif, with an estimated cost of 2,160,000 euros, VAT not included, according to annex no. 1 of the agreement. The planned distribution by annual installments was 710,000 euros in 2022 and 1,450,000 euros in 2023. The Provincial Council of Cuenca drafts the projects and executes the works, which are then delivered to the City Council, the final owner of the land and infrastructure.

The general framework is the General Protocol of Action signed on March 9, 2022, by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha, the Provincial Council, the City Council, and Adif for the change of use of the Tarancón-Utiel railway section.

Judicial suspension delays the works

The extension responds to a specific reason: the precautionary measure agreed upon on June 26, 2023, by the 3rd Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court, which suspended the execution of the works upon admitting the appeal of several city councils against the agreement of the Council of Ministers of February 21, 2023, which closed the section between Tarancón and Utiel. The suspension remained in place until the judgment of December 9, 2024, which fully dismissed the appeal.

As a consequence, the actions are “partly underway or pending,” according to the text itself, which necessitates activating the seventh clause of the agreement and extending the validity until September 19, 2030.

The wall of the former level crossing increases the cost

The addendum modifies a single economic forecast: the conditioning of the railway lands in the area of the Cuenca conventional network station, from the surroundings of Diego Jiménez street to the Ronda Oeste road. The item increases from 100,000 to 120,000 euros, with an increase of 20,000 euros intended to lower a wall next to the old level crossing, without exceeding the global ceiling of 2,160,000 euros.

The rest of the five endowment actions maintain their amounts:

• Roundabout on Diego Jiménez street: 120,000 euros.
• Public parking lot annexed to the roundabout, in the Casablanca neighborhood: 200,000 euros.
• Complex of sports facilities between Orégano street and Álvaro de Luna street: 740,000 euros.
• Public parking lot between Paseo del Ferrocarril and Orégano street: 800,000 euros.
• Conditioning of the conventional network station lands: 120,000 euros.
• Project drafting: 100,000 euros; works management and technical assistance: 100,000 euros.

The affected lands total approximately 131,110 square meters owned by Adif: 2,700 for the roundabout and the Casablanca parking lot, 6,400 for the sports complex, 7,600 for the Paseo del Ferrocarril parking lot, and 114,410 for the conditioning of the station. The entire integration area—station precinct and urban layout—is around 230,000 square meters.

Monitoring and Entry into Force

The Monitoring Commission, composed of a representative from each of the three administrations and chaired by the Cuenca City Council, meets at least every six months and must approve the annual distribution of expenditure. The addendum will become fully effective upon its registration in the state registry of agreements, within a period of five business days, and was to be published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) within ten business days following its formalization.

The operation conditions the urban future of Cuenca: the decommissioning of the lands requires the prior closure of the Tarancón-Cuenca-Utiel section in accordance with Article 11 of Law 38/2015, of September 29, on the Railway Sector, and the definitive and free transfer of ownership to the City Council will occur during the execution of the new urban planning or the Urbanization Action Program agreed upon in the corresponding urban agreement. Until then, Adif grants use through free administrative concessions. The current General Municipal Zoning Plan, approved in 1995, refers the station area to PERI no. 9, which is still pending approval, and the City Council is working on its revision.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 264, of October 24, 2026, section III, page 142641 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-22281).