Andalusia replaces the leadership of the Public Hydraulic Domain with two decrees

The Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA) publishes this Monday, October 19, 2026, the resignation, at her own request, of Susana Benavides Vedia as Director General of Hydraulic Public Domain and the appointment of Ricardo Ruiz Antúnez to lead the same management center. This is done through two decrees, Decree 520/2026 and Decree 521/2026, both dated October 14 and signed within the scope of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development. The decision is formalized as a decree and reaches the gazette five days after its adoption.

The two texts are inserted in section 2. Authorities and personnel, subsection 2.1 Appointments, situations and incidents, of issue number 202 of the gazette, corresponding to Year XLVIII. The affected general directorate is part of the organic structure of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, whose current organization is established in Decree 193/2026, of July 30, a regulation that the BOJA itself repeatedly cites as the competency framework in the calls and resolutions of this department.

Furthermore, the handover occurs in a gazette with ordinary activity regarding water matters: the same issue includes several announcements from the territorial delegations of Granada and Málaga relating to sanctioning procedures and hearing formalities regarding water, which outlines the type of files managed by the now-renewed management center.

The two decrees, point by point

• Decree 520/2026, of October 14: the resignation, at her own request, of Ms. Susana Benavides Vedia as Director General of Hydraulic Public Domain is ordered (text no. 13659, one page).
• Decree 521/2026, of October 14: the appointment of Mr. Ricardo Ruiz Antúnez as Director General of Hydraulic Public Domain is ordered (text no. 13662, one page).
• Both appear under the heading of the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, within the appointments section of the summary.
• Publication: BOJA no. 202, Monday, October 19, 2026, page 3 of the summary.

Resignation at own request and immediate handover

The distinguishing element of the first of the decrees is the formula used: the resignation is agreed «at her own request» by the outgoing holder, and not by removal or by restructuring of the department. The gazette does not detail the reasons for that request nor add any explanation regarding the circumstances of the handover; it limits itself to confirming the will of the general director and declaring her cessation from the position.

The second decree completes the operation without interruption: the appointment of Ricardo Ruiz Antúnez is published in the same issue and with the same date as the dismissal, so that the Directorate General of Public Hydraulic Domain does not remain vacant for formal purposes at the time of publication. The sequence—dismissal and appointment in two consecutive decrees, 520/2026 and 521/2026—is the standard procedure for replacing a high-ranking official without interrupting the activity of the management center.

Water, a subject with open files across the entire territory

The directorate general changing hands operates in an area with permanent proceedings in all eight provinces. In the same issue 202 of the BOJA, the following are published, among others:

• An announcement dated October 8, 2026, from the Territorial Delegation of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development in Granada regarding sanctioning proceedings on water matters (text no. 13635).
• A hearing procedure dated October 13, 2026, from the Territorial Delegation in Málaga regarding a sanctioning proceeding on water matters (text no. 13607).
• Two agreements to initiate sanctioning proceedings on water matters, dated October 14, 2026, from the Territorial Delegation in Málaga (text no. 13651 and text no. 13655).

Added to this, in the same bulletin, are notifications of administrative acts issued in authorization proceedings regarding the public hydraulic domain in the province of Granada, confirming the continuous volume of administrative work undertaken by the directorate general.

The change at the top of the Public Hydraulic Domain affects the unit that processes authorizations, concessions, and sanctioning files regarding water and irrigation in Andalusia, matters with a direct impact on agriculture, irrigators, and the management of the community’s water resources. With this handover, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development keeps the management position filled and guarantees the administrative continuity of an especially sensitive area in a territory with recurrent droughts and strong pressure on water use.

Source: Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA), no. 202, Monday, October 19, 2026, section 2.1 Appointments, situations and incidents, page 3 of the summary (official reference: Decree 520/2026, text no. 13659, and Decree 521/2026, text no. 13662).