Culture opens hearing to declare footraces as Assets of Cultural Interest

The Director General of Culture and Cultural Heritage of the Government of Aragon, Pedro Olloqui Burillo, has opened the hearing process for interested parties in the procedure to declare “Traditional footraces in Aragon” as an asset of intangible cultural interest. The decision was adopted on October 23, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 216, dated November 9, 2026, with reference BOA20261109022. With this step, the file enters its final phase, immediately before the drafting of the proposed resolution.

The invoked regulation is Article 82 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, which requires the file to be made available to interested parties once instructed and before drafting the proposed resolution. The text recalls that the administration could grant between ten and fifteen days for allegations and has set the minimum: ten business days.

A procedure initiated in January

The file does not start now. According to the resolution itself, the procedure began by Resolution of January 13, 2026, from the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage, which then opened a public information process for the same declaration. That agreement was published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 15, dated January 23, 2026.

The resolution is now signed by the Director General of Culture and Cultural Heritage, within the Vice Presidency of the Government and Department of Presidency, Justice, Culture and Sport, and is inserted in section V of the gazette, dedicated to announcements and other notices.

Ten business days and access to the file

The period for filing allegations and providing documentation is calculated from the day following the publication of the resolution, that is, from November 10, 2026. During this period, interested parties have the following channels:

• In-person consultation: offices of the Directorate General of Culture and Cultural Heritage, avenida de Ranillas 5D, 2nd floor, Zaragoza, Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 hours.
• Electronic consultation: Electronic office of the Government of Aragon (https://mia.aragon.es), upon prior request to the Directorate General for the Secure Verification Code (CSV) of the electronic file, which is mandatory for those who must interact electronically with the administration.
• Allegations: presentation of arguments and submission of documents and justifications deemed relevant.

Publication in the gazette instead of notification

The resolution justifies its official publication, rather than individual notification, based on the “indeterminate plurality of potential interested parties” and the impossibility of notifying the process one by one, relying on Article 45 of Law 39/2015. This detail is relevant: by substituting notification with publication in the Official Gazette of Aragon, the announcement becomes the sole formal channel of notice, meaning the calculation of the deadline depends on its appearance in the gazette and not on a personal communication.

The published text is limited to ordering the opening of the hearing and the publication of the resolution; it does not specify in this delivery the inventory of evidence nor the repertoire of localities that could be covered by the future declaration. Nor does it detail the content of the asset being protected. Furthermore, the designation alternates within the document itself between “Traditional footraces in Aragon,” which appears in the title, and “Footraces in Aragon,” which appears in the resolution section.

Who has something to say

Due to the object of the proceedings, the hearing is of interest to those who organize popular footraces, to athletes and regular participants, to the city councils of localities with traditional races, and to groups working for their conservation, in addition to any person or entity that proves an interest in the procedure. All of them may examine the file and submit allegations within the indicated period.

After this phase, the General Directorate of Culture and Cultural Heritage will draft the proposed resolution with which the instruction of the procedure will conclude. The hearing is, therefore, the last opportunity to influence the file before it is decided whether traditional footraces will join the list of intangible cultural assets of interest in Aragon, a recognition that affects the administrative consideration of a sporting and festive practice widespread throughout the Aragonese territory.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 216, November 9, 2026, section V (Announcements), official reference: BOA20261109022.