The La Galiana private airfield must undergo an ordinary environmental assessment

The Provincial Delegation for Sustainable Development of Guadalajara has resolved that the construction project for the La Galiana airfield, located on the La Matilla estate in the municipality of Pozo de Guadalajara, must undergo an ordinary environmental impact assessment due to having significant effects on the environment. The decision, signed by the provincial delegate Rubén García Ortega on October 13, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha no. 203, dated October 22, 2026, under official reference 2026/7566. The report does not authorize the installation: it obliges the promoter to prepare a complete environmental impact study and to restart the processing before the substantive body.

The promoter is Rusticarea Explotaciones Agrarias, S.L. and the General Directorate of Transport and Mobility of the Ministry of Public Works acts as the substantive body. The procedure began on February 27, 2026, and was registered under file number S478/2026/GU/00070. The action falls under Annex II of Law 2/2020, of February 7, on Environmental Assessment of Castilla-La Mancha, within group 7, section e)—construction of airfields—, and under Royal Decree 445/2023, which modified the annexes of the state Law 21/2013.

On April 8, 2026, the environmental body made prior inquiries to 29 administrations and entities; only eight responded. Those consulted include the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), the Tagus Hydrographic Confederation, the Ministry of Defense, the Provincial Council of Guadalajara, SEO BirdLife, Ecologistas en Acción de Guadalajara, WWF/Adena, the city councils of Pioz, Loranca de Tajuña, Chiloeches, and Pozo de Guadalajara, and the Madrid councils of Los Santos de la Humosa, Santorcaz, and Valdarachas. The City Council of Pozo de Guadalajara was consulted but did not issue a report.

A restricted airfield with a 550-meter runway

The project envisions a restricted, private-use airfield dedicated to general aviation, operating solely under visual flight rules (VFR), on road CM-235, kilometer 1.9, 21.7 kilometers east of the Madrid-Torrejón airport, in the La Alcarria plateau. The declared characteristics are:

• Total area of 80,000 m², in polygon 1, plots 1, 5001, 5002, and 161.
• Compacted earth runway 550 meters long and 35 wide, orientation 04/22, unpaved.
• Strip of 610 by 70 meters and RESA of 60 meters (30 at each end).
• Taxiway of 70 by 15 meters and apron of 5,000 m².
• Prefabricated hangar of 600 m² and single compacted earth access road of 190 meters.
• No fuel depot; current fencing of the estate.
• Between 3 and 4 daily operations, from sunrise to sunset, year-round.
• Planned aircraft: ATEC 122 Zephyr 2000, Piper PA-28 Cherokee, Sukhoi Su-29, and Yakovlev Yak-52.

The document justifies the initiative due to the demand for this type of flight—the nearest airfield is 40 kilometers away—and the goal of increasing the value of the estate’s celebrations and events business. Of the five alternatives studied, the fifth was chosen to reduce the number of transplanted trees, avoid protected rural land, and move the works away from the Valilongo stream.

Threatened birds, noise, and urban planning

The report confirms the presence of three habitats of community interest (codes 4090, 5210, and 9340) and species from the Regional Catalog of Threatened Species, including the Spanish imperial eagle and the booted eagle, both of which are endangered. In the vicinity, there is evidence of the breeding of a pair of golden eagles 2.6 kilometers from the nest and a pair of imperial eagles 5.8 kilometers away, and the plot is about 3 kilometers from the dispersal area of the booted eagle. The Natural Environment Service considers that the noise footprints provided corroborate the impact on nesting birds and describes the landscape impact as considerable.

Regarding acoustics, the most sensitive buildings are those in the Medina Zahara urbanization (also called Monte de los Santos), less than 700 meters away and within the municipality of Chiloeches. The environmental body requests a multidisciplinary study on acoustic stress and the reproductive success of the birds.

In terms of urban planning, the Municipal Zoning Plan of Pozo de Guadalajara, approved on June 15, 2005, classifies the land as rural reserve land, with a fragment of approximately 1,100 m² of RESA on protected rural land. The Urban Planning Service warns that article 56.6.1 of the urban regulations prohibits collective equipment on protected rural land, therefore the action will require urban classification in accordance with article 37 of the Rural Land Regulations.

Livestock routes, Defense, and accumulation of impacts

The evaluation detects that a section of approximately 400 meters of the Cordel de Santorcaz, included within the estate, is inaccessible, which infringes upon Law 3/1995 on Livestock Routes and the Castilian-Manchegan Law 9/2003; the illegal closure must be reversed. Three kilometers to the south is located the Santorcaz Radio Station of the Spanish Navy, declared a zone of interest for National Defense by Royal Decree 790/2023; neither the Ministry of Defense nor AESA issued a statement.

The report also warns that the sum of agricultural, urban, and energy development places the municipality “at the limit of its carrying capacity,” with holm oak forests reduced to token extensions, and calls for a more detailed assessment of the cumulative and synergistic effects.

The statement represents a significant obstacle for the developer: the airfield cannot be authorized via the simplified procedure and must undergo an ordinary evaluation, with a new environmental impact study and public exhibition, prior to any authorization from the Regional Ministry of Public Works (Consejería de Fomento). The report is not independently appealable, according to article 54.5 of Law 2/2020, without prejudice to appeals against the future act of authorization.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, no. 203, October 22, 2026, section III (Other Provisions and Acts), pp. 37467-37475 (official reference: 2026/7566).