Aragón reorganizes Environment and Tourism with six general…

The Government of Aragon has approved Decree 172/2026, of September 23, which establishes the new organic structure of the Department of Environment and Tourism. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 191, of October 1, 2026, within section I, General Provisions, with the reference BOA20261001001, and will enter into force the day following its publication.

Regulatory context and processing

The decree develops the organization established by the Decree of May 3, 2026, of the President of the Government of Aragon, and by Decree 27/2026, of May 4, which defines the management centers of the Department. It replaces Decree 56/2024, of April 3, and Decree 223/2024, of December 27, which are expressly repealed.

The regulation consists of 28 articles, five additional provisions, one transitional provision, one repealing provision, and two final provisions. It was signed by the president Jorge Azcón Navarro, the counselor of Finance, Interior and Public Administration, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro Mur, and the counselor of Environment and Tourism, Luis Biendicho Gracia, following the Government’s deliberation on September 23, 2026. During the processing, reports were issued by the Technical General Secretariat of Environment and Tourism, the General Inspectorate of Services, and the Directorate General of Legal Services.

Six general directorates and new cabinet

The Department is organized into the following management bodies:

Technical General Secretariat
Directorate General of Natural Environment
Directorate General of Forestry Management
Directorate General of Environmental Quality
Directorate General of Hunting and Fishing
Directorate General of Tourism and Hospitality

The counselor’s Cabinet consists of a chief of staff, two advisors, and a private secretary. The Technical General Secretariat also assumes the functions of the Transparency Unit, the Equality Unit, and the Electronic Administration Support and Data Governance Unit.

Splits, suppressions, and oversight of entities

The main changes regarding the previous structure are:

The Directorate General of Natural Environment, Hunting and Fishing is split into the Directorate General of Natural Environment and the Directorate General of Hunting and Fishing.
The Directorate General of Environmental Education is suppressed, and its competencies are mostly integrated into the Directorate General of Environmental Quality.
The Directorate General of Forestry Management assumes the management of the Agro-Environmental Training Institute of Jaca.
The Directorate General of Natural Environment assumes the interpretation centers of the protected natural areas.
In Tourism, the Promotion, Planning and Tourism Studies Service is suppressed, and its duties are assumed by the Service for the Planning and Regulation of Tourism Activities.

The Aragonese Water Institute and the Aragonese Institute of Environmental Management are assigned to the Department. Under its tutelage are Aragonesa de Gestión de Residuos, SA, Sociedad de Promoción y Gestión del Turismo Aragonés, SLU, Sociedad Aragonesa de Gestión Agroambiental SLU, and the Ordesa-Viñamala Biosphere Reserve Consortium.

Provincial services and environmental areas

The peripheral administration is organized into the Provincial Services of Zaragoza, Huesca, and Teruel, with a provincial secretariat and a provincial sub-directorate of the environment. Huesca and Teruel will additionally have a provincial sub-directorate of tourism, while in Zaragoza, tourism positions are integrated into the General Directorate of Tourism and Hospitality. The annex of the decree lists 24 Environmental Areas, whose territorial scope corresponds to the comarcas.

Regarding environmental liability, the fifth additional provision sets the resolution thresholds: the directors of the Provincial Services up to 50,000 euros, the general directors between 50,000 and 100,000 euros, and the regional minister above 100,000 euros.

Impact

The reorganization fully affects the environmental and tourism management of Aragon: it concentrates environmental quality, separates hunting and fishing from the natural environment, and reinforces forest and fire policy. Citizens and companies in the sector will notice the changes in the processing of authorizations, inspections, and tourism registries, which now depend on the new governing bodies and provincial services.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 191, of October 1, 2026, section I. General Provisions (official reference: BOA20261001001).