Balazote opens its ordinance against "botellón" (street drinking) for public exhibition

The Plenary Session of the Balazote City Council initially approved on October 29, 2026, the Ordinance regulating the improper consumption of alcoholic beverages in public spaces and the promotion of coexistence, the regulation with which the Council aims to organize “botellón” (street drinking) and the use of public roads in the municipality. The agreement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Albacete number 132, dated November 13, 2026, Third Section, page 12, with the official reference 30.344. Starting the day following that insertion, a thirty-day public information period is open to examine the file and submit claims and suggestions.

The announcement, signed by Mayor José Antonio Simón Sotos, is processed in compliance with Article 49 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, the ordinary route for the approval of municipal ordinances and regulations. The plenary session that gave the initial green light to the text was an ordinary session held on October 29, 2026, barely two weeks before the publication of the edict.

The file is available to interested parties on the City Council’s electronic notice board and on the website of the municipal electronic office, where the announcement identifies the procedure with the identifier 1610200. Balazote already used this same procedure in previous months for other local regulations, such as the modification of the fiscal ordinance for the drinking water supply fee, published on August 19, 2026, and the regulatory text for the public price of the “Padre Ricardo” hall, disseminated on August 26, 2026.

Thirty days to appeal before it becomes final

The schedule and conditions of the procedure are as follows:

• Deadline: thirty days counted from the day following the publication of the announcement in the Official Gazette of the Province of Albacete.
• Calculation: the period begins with the insertion of the edict in the gazette, which occurred on November 13, 2026.
• Where to consult: electronic notice board of the Balazote City Council and the municipal electronic office, under file reference 1610200.
• What can be submitted: claims and suggestions “deemed appropriate” regarding the initially approved text.
• Effect of silence: if no claims or suggestions have been submitted after the deadline, the agreement will be understood as definitively adopted.

The announcement does not include the articles of the ordinance, so its concrete content—prohibitions, schedules, sanctioning regime, or exceptions for celebrations—can only be known by consulting the full file at the electronic office.

A coexistence regulation with effects on the street

The title of the ordinance links two matters: the improper consumption of alcohol in public spaces and the promotion of coexistence. In other words, the City Council does not only regulate “botellón” (street drinking), but also behaviors on public roads that affect rest and the common use of streets and squares.

The initial approval does not close the procedure: the public information phase is designed so that neighbors, associations, and establishments can correct or refine the text before it is finalized. Any admitted allegation must be resolved before the final approval.

Two files originating from the same plenary session

The plenary session on October 29 did not only approve the alcohol ordinance. In the same session, initial approval was given to the catalog of public paths within the municipal district, announced in that same issue of the bulletin with reference 30.346 and a period of twenty business days for claims.

The two procedures share the same origin and body, but not the same deadline: thirty calendar days for the coexistence ordinance versus twenty business days for the paths catalog. Both edicts appear in the Third Section, dedicated to Local Administration, under the heading of the Balazote City Council.

The ordinance arrives at a time when small municipalities are resorting to this type of regulation to manage nightlife in the streets. For Balazote, the text represents a shift from case-by-case management to a written framework with stable rules, and the phase now open is the last opportunity for residents and the hospitality sector to influence its wording before it comes into force.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Albacete, No. 132, November 13, 2026, Third Section. Local Administration, p. 12 (official reference: 30.344).