Education unlocks the expansion of the Campo de Mirra cemetery

The Department of Education, Culture and Universities has ordered the initiation of the administrative procedure to modify Decree 207/2015 and thus unblock the expansion of the municipal cemetery of Campo de Mirra, which was prevented by the protection of the Puig de Almizra historical site. The resolution, dated September 16, 2026, is signed by the regional minister María del Carmen Ortí Ferre and is published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV) number 10453, of September 17, 2026, section III of administrative acts, with the official reference DOGV-C-2026-29408.

The origin of the intervention is Decree 207/2015, of November 13, of the Consell, which declared the Puig de Almizra, located in the municipality of Campo de Mirra, as an asset of cultural interest under the category of historical site. That decree was published in DOGV number 7658, of November 16, 2015, and its article 6 establishes that “in order to conserve the traditional landscape of the area, no new construction of any kind shall be permitted for any use.” Annex I of the same text specifies, in point 4, section h), the “cemetery: dating from the 19th century,” along with the Via Crucis, as elements that must be conserved by preserving and restoring their original characteristics.

The conflict between heritage and municipal facilities

The City Council of Campo de Mirra promoted the modification of its urban planning to respond to “an urgent situation”: the expansion of the municipal cemetery due to the insufficient capacity of the facilities to meet its own needs. This action clashed directly with article 6 of Decree 207/2015.

On October 27, 2025, the Territorial Directorate of Culture of Alicante issued a report that deemed the expansion compatible “exceptionally,” as it concerns an area already consolidated by public service facilities and with a “null impact on the environment and limited impact on a small area of the historical site.” The report conditioned the approval on whether the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage considered it convenient to modify article 6.

Constraints and compensatory measures

The territorial report set three requirements to authorize the intervention:

• The expansion is limited solely to the lands adjacent to the cemetery, plot 47 of polygon 6.
• A project must be presented that is consistent with the cultural and environmental surroundings, respecting the typological reference of the existing cemetery in terms of materials, finishes, ornamentation, and colors.
• A historical landscape study must be carried out to allow for the creation of a forest screen to reduce the visual impact of the expansion.

The new wording of article 6

On September 4, 2026, the Director General of Cultural Heritage signed a proposal report submitting to the Regional Minister the partial modification of the last paragraph of Article 6. The proposed wording is as follows: “In order to preserve the traditional landscape of the area, no new construction of any kind shall be permitted for any use, except, where applicable, the expansion of the cemetery’s capacity. The planned expansion shall require authorization from the general directorate competent in matters of cultural heritage, in accordance with a landscape integration study and respecting the original characteristics.”

The resolution emphasizes that the reform “must not imply the granting of a blank check” nor open the door to future public or private interventions in the protection area, and that authorization from the administration competent in cultural heritage will be necessary in all cases. The processing will notify the advisory institutions provided for in Article 7 of Law 4/1998, of June 11, on Valencian Cultural Heritage, and is based on Article 88.6 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, and Decree 68/2026, of May 4, of the Consell.

Deadlines and means of appeal

The resolution exhausts the administrative route, therefore the interested parties have the following options:

• Optional appeal for reversal (recurso potestativo de reposición) before the Regional Minister of Education, Culture and Universities within one month of its publication; if one month passes without a resolution, it shall be understood as dismissed.
• Contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community within two months from the day following publication.

The decision directly affects the City Council of Campo de Mirra and the residents of the municipality, who have spent months unable to expand facilities declared insufficient. The file opens the way to reconcile the protection of Puig de Almizra with basic municipal provision, but subjects any work to express authorization from cultural heritage and landscape integration measures, meaning the deadlock is not automatically broken.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10453, of September 17, 2026, section III (administrative acts), pág. 1-3 (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-29408).