Aragón updates its rural settlement system with the 2025 Nomenclátor

The Department of Housing, Development, Logistics and Territorial Cohesion of the Government of Aragon has published in the Official Gazette of Aragon (Boletín Oficial de Aragón) number 176, dated September 10, 2026, Order VFL/1310/2026, of August 27, which updates the structure of the settlement system and the functionality index of Aragon framed within the Territorial Planning Strategy of Aragon (EOTA), based on the 2025 inhabitants’ Nomenclator and other socioeconomic variables. The regulation, signed by Councilor Octavio López Rodríguez, has the official csv reference BOA20260910013.

The update is a result of Law 13/2023, of March 30, on the revitalization of the rural environment of Aragon, published in BOA number 72, of April 17, 2023. Article 19 requires Aragonese public administrations to use the classification of rural settlements and municipalities for the establishment of positive discrimination measures and for grant calls under a competitive bidding process aimed at revitalizing the rural environment. Article 22.2 of the same law entrusts the department competent in territorial planning with the annual update of settlements in accordance with the EOTA.

The structure of the settlement system

The EOTA, approved by Decree 202/2014, of December 2, of the Government of Aragon, classifies population settlements into five large groups comprising twelve ranges, differentiating between grouped and isolated permanent settlements, and between inhabited and uninhabited ones:

• Centralities (ranges I to V): capital of Aragon, provincial capitals, supra-regional centers, administrative regional capitals, and other centralities.
• Self-sufficient settlements (ranges VI and VII): self-sufficient A and B.
• Dependent settlements (ranges VIII to X): in transition to self-sufficiency, dependent, and those with viability issues.
• Uninhabited settlements (range XI).
• Isolated settlements (range XII), which group together farmhouses (masías), pardinas, inns (ventas), towers, and single-family homes scattered on non-urbanized land.

Classification criteria and municipality system

The position of each settlement within the structure is not static and is reviewed periodically. The criteria used, detailed in Annex I, include the pre-existing legal status, the territorial function due to the availability of supra-municipal facilities and services, the location in relation to the road network, the regional delimitation, the registered population according to the latest Nomenclator, the self-sufficiency potential index, the basic school equipment index, the demographic viability index, and whether it is grouped or isolated.

The order also incorporates the structure of the system of municipalities of Aragon, which classifies municipalities using the same criteria but referring to the entirety of the municipal district. This classification barely differs from that of settlements for those holding municipal capital status, and it facilitates administrative processes that require territorial organization or hierarchy.

Publication and effects

The update is accompanied by five annexes describing the groups, ranks, and criteria, as well as the variables for the indicators of self-sufficiency potential, basic school equipment, demographic viability, and functionality. The tables for the structure of the system of settlements and municipalities, along with the auxiliary tables, are available on the department’s website in the territorial planning section.

The order is issued in accordance with Decree 129/2026, of July 22, which assigns the department the competencies in territorial planning, and upon the proposal of the Director General of Logistics Planning and Territorial Planning, dated August 5, 2026.

With this annual publication, the Government of Aragon updates the territorial radiography that serves as the basis for guiding positive discrimination policies and rural revitalization grants, so that municipalities and settlements with the highest risk of depopulation can be identified and addressed with greater precision.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 176, of September 10, 2026, section III. Other Provisions and Agreements (official reference: csv BOA20260910013).