Partial plan Brisas del Cantábrico for seniors in Meruelo approved

The Regional Commission for Land Use Planning and Urbanism of Cantabria has definitively approved the Partial Plan for the “Brisas del Cantábrico” sector, which develops the specific modification of the Subsidiary Norms of Meruelo for a facility of public and social interest of a care-based type intended for elderly people. The agreement was adopted in the session of July 29, 2026, and is now published in the extraordinary Official Gazette of Cantabria number 19, dated October 5, 2026, with the reference CVE-2026-7484. The resolution opens a one-month period to file an optional appeal for reversal.

A sector of 86,606 square meters east of San Miguel

The area, promoted by the Sociedad Cooperativa Brisa del Cantábrico (CIF F-39775432), is located northeast of the nucleus of San Miguel de Meruelo, in the Santa Ana neighborhood, next to the local road CA-452 and at the foot of the Sierra del Molino de Viento. It comprises 86,606.51 square meters of delimited developable land, with a maximum private land area of 68,063.26 square meters and a buildability of 0.28209 m2/m2.

The processing began on March 19, 2025, when the Meruelo City Council submitted the request for definitive approval to the General Directorate of Urbanism and Land Use Planning. Previously, the Local Government Board had initially approved the plan on January 31, 2025, and provisionally on March 13, 2025. The strategic environmental report, dated December 19, 2024, concluded that the action has no significant effects on the environment and was published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 2, dated January 3, 2025.

202 collaborative accommodations and two coexistence units

The plan organizes collaborative accommodations, defined as residential complexes of a care-based nature with a function that substitutes the family home. Plot A-1 allows a maximum of 202 accommodations, with a density of 31.83 accommodations per hectare:

• 132 individual accommodations of approximately 40 useful square meters, five of which are support units for semi-dependent people.
• 70 double accommodations of approximately 50 useful square meters, four of which are support units.
• Two buildings of coexistence units for highly dependent people, with a capacity for 24 people.

Plot A-2 allows between 12 and 15 accommodations, with a maximum density of 65.09 accommodations per hectare. The plan reserves 9,096.69 square meters of public open spaces, 7,141.92 for local roads, and 2,304.64 for local facilities, and provides for the transfer of 15% of the average development benefit, valued at 414,086.40 euros.

Dissenting vote and conditions of approval

The agreement passed with the unfavorable vote of four entities:

• Federation of Municipalities of Cantabria
• College of Geographers of Cantabria
• College of Agricultural Engineers of Cantabria
• College of Architects of Cantabria

The Commission resolved that it is not appropriate to require residential parking standards nor the reservation of land for protected housing, as the accommodations are legally considered community welfare facilities in accordance with article 61.3 of Law 5/2022, of July 15. Publication was conditioned upon compliance with article 79.1.d), which requires a guarantee of 2% of the investment cost: 103,108.04 euros based on a material execution budget of 5,155,401.84 euros.

Deadlines and avenues for appeal

An optional appeal for reversal may be filed against the agreement before the Regional Commission for Territorial Planning and Urbanism itself within one month from the day following publication, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the corresponding Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Cantabria within two months. The agreement was signed in Santander on September 22, 2026, by the secretary of the Commission, Carolina Juániz Castanedo, and the plan was drafted by architects Alberto Morell Sixto and Manuel de Lara Ruiz.

Impact

The approval unlocks a welfare development of non-profit cooperative initiative which, according to the plan itself, must be executed within the first five-year period from final approval; if it does not start within that timeframe, the land must be reclassified as rural. The project incorporates transfers of open spaces and municipal facilities open to the entire municipality and directly affects the owners and neighbors of Meruelo, who now have one month to challenge the agreement.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, extraordinary no. 19, October 5, 2026, section 7.1 Urbanism, page 3876 (official reference: CVE-2026-7484).