Canaries unblocks the new Judicial Building of Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura

The Government of the Canary Islands has unblocked the construction of the new Puerto del Rosario Judicial Building, on the island of Fuerteventura, by ruling in favor of the Ministry of Justice regarding the urban planning discrepancy raised by the City Council of the Majorcan capital. The decision was adopted through Decree 166/2026, of October 26, published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands (BOC) no. 219, of November 3, 2026 (section III. Other Resolutions, pages 39320 et seq.). The act itself legitimizes the execution of the project and concludes the administrative process.

The decree was issued at the request of the General Directorate of Relations with the Administration of Justice and resolves the discrepancy provided for in article 334.3 of Law 4/2017, of July 13, on Land and Protected Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands, which grants the regional Government the power of reasoned resolution when the City Council expresses founded opposition to a public works project of the Autonomous Community. The processed regulation is the “Implementation Project for the New Judicial Building”, which contemplates the construction of the new headquarters and the adaptation of outdoor spaces and infrastructure for its urban integration.

The new building is conceived as an administrative infrastructure intended to concentrate the various judicial bodies and services that currently carry out their activities in scattered premises into a single location, which, according to the text, will improve coordination, optimize spaces, and facilitate citizen access to the Administration of Justice. The Government considers that the project “will provide Fuerteventura with an infrastructure suited to the needs of the Administration of Justice on the island.”

Location and Background of the Blockage

The action is projected on plots AD-013 (administrative use) and EL-010 (open space), located between Eustaquio Juan Santana Gil avenue (formerly Juan de Bethencourt avenue) and Antonio Espinosa and Lucha Canaria streets, classified by the General Urban Development Plan (PGO) of Puerto del Rosario as consolidated urban land. Eustaquio Juan Santana Gil avenue also constitutes the urban section of the FV-10 road. The current PGO was approved by the Canary Islands Land Planning and Environment Commission through agreements dated May 20, 2015, and October 6, 2016, published in BOC no. 4, of January 5, 2017.

The obstacle arose during the inter-administrative cooperation process of article 19 of Law 4/2017. By Decree no. 2026/000057, of January 9, the Delegated Department of Municipal Works, Urbanism, and Planning of the Puerto del Rosario City Council resolved the “non-conformity with urban legality” of the project for two reasons:

• The building is situated across both plots without respecting the open space delimitation established by the PGO and includes the opening of a new road not provided for in the planning.
• Article 5.2 of the Municipal Building Ordinance (approved by the Plenary on January 29, 2018, and published in the BOP of Las Palmas no. 41, of April 4, 2018) requires that building projects affect a single plot, and the grouping of the affected plots was not accredited.

In view of this, the Vice-Minister of Justice and Security requested from the Minister of Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion, and Water the proposal to the Government to resolve the discrepancies and legitimize the execution.

Road conditions and aeronautical easements

Execution is conditional upon compliance with the sectoral reports incorporated into the file:

• Road Service of the Insular Council of Fuerteventura, reports of June 9 and October 6, 2026: the works affect the protection zones of the FV-10, with piping at a minimum of 40 centimeters from the road surface, manholes flush with cast iron covers, and underground crossings with double conduits, half of which must be free.
• The trench shall be executed in sections of a maximum of one lane per day, with mass concrete filling except for the last 10 centimeters, using AC16 surf S or D aggregate in two layers.
• The start of the work must be communicated to the Road Service three business days in advance and to the Central Traffic Headquarters, in accordance with Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015.
• Agreement of the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), of May 20, 2026: authorizes the building, the tower crane, and the mobile crane as they do not violate the easements of the Fuerteventura Airport, on the condition that the fixed height and elevation values are not exceeded.
• Report from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, of September 16, 2026: favorable and conditional upon incorporating the aeronautical easement map —already included as map U.04 of the project— and the provisions on aeronautical limitations.

Planning modification and appeal process

The decree orders, in its second operative part, to parallelly initiate the procedure for the modification of the General Planning Plan of Puerto del Rosario, on the occasion of its first substantial modification, in all determinations necessary to execute the project. Previously, favorable reports had been issued by the Technical and Legal-Administrative Services of Eastern Urban Planning of the Directorate General for Territorial Planning and Territorial Cohesion (October 2 and 7, 2026) and the proposal from the director general of that management center, dated October 13.

The text is signed by the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez González —acting by substitution, in his capacity as Vice President, according to Decree 108/2026, of October 22—, and by the Councilor for Territorial Policy, Territorial Cohesion and Water, Manuel Miranda Medina, following the deliberation of the Executive on October 26. An optional appeal for reversal may be filed against the act before the Government of the Canary Islands within one month or, directly, a contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands within two months.

The unblocking clears the way for a long-awaited project in Fuerteventura: the island will have a single judicial headquarters replacing the current dispersion of offices, with a direct impact on the residents of Puerto del Rosario and the legal professionals operating on the island. The operation remains, however, subject to a double condition: municipal planning —which must be modified— and airport easements, the compliance of which will be monitored by the Cabildo and AESA.

Source: Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 219, of November 3, 2026, section III. Other Resolutions, pp. 39320-39327 (official reference: Decree 166/2026).