The Consell approves the regulations for the Valencian coastal commission

The Consell has approved Decree 139/2026, of October 1, which approves the Regulations of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Coordination of Coastal Management (CICOL), the collegiate body that will assume the preparation, application, and monitoring of the coastal management instruments of the Comunitat Valenciana. The provision is published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV) no. 10468, of October 8, 2026, within section I, General Provisions, and enters into force the day following its publication. The text bears the signature of the President of the Generalitat, Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca, and the third vice president and conseller of Environment, Infrastructure, Territory, and Recovery, Vicente Martínez Mus, who submits the proposal.

The mandate of Law 3/2025 and the revision of PATIVEL

The regulation develops article 11 of Law 3/2025, of May 22, on the protection and management of the Valencian coast, published in DOGV no. 10115, of May 26, 2025, which created CICOL and referred its composition, structure, operation, and powers to subsequent regulatory development.

The norm responds to a specific mandate: the first additional provision of Law 3/2025 orders the revision and adaptation of the Territorial Action Plan for the Green Infrastructure of the Coast (PATIVEL), approved by Decree 58/2018, of May 4, of the Consell, together with the Catalog of Beaches of the Comunitat Valenciana (DOGV 8293, of May 11, 2018). This plan will be renamed the Coastal Management Plan of the Comunitat Valenciana (POC).

The preamble of the decree justifies the urgency of the change in the need to provide “legal certainty and stability” to the uses and activities linked to the coast and in the principle of regulatory congruence. The objective of PATIVEL was to identify, organize, and regulate the admissible uses in coastal lands of higher environmental, territorial, and cultural value, and for protection against natural and induced risks.

A single commission for the entire Comunitat

The regulation establishes that there is a single CICOL for the Comunitat Valenciana, composed of a Presidency, Vice-Presidency, Secretariat, and memberships. Its powers are limited to the preparation, application, and monitoring of coastal management instruments in accordance with article 11 of Law 3/2025.

• Presidency: the head of the department (conselleria) competent in territorial planning, who sets the agenda, convenes, directs the debates, and resolves ties with a casting vote. This may be delegated to the general directorate of urban planning.
• Vice-Presidency: the head of the general directorate competent in urban planning, with voice and vote.
• Secretariat: a civil servant from group A1 of the Generalitat assigned to the general directorate of urban planning; by default, the head of the sub-directorate general of urban planning and territory. Acts with voice but without vote.
• Members: the departments (consellerias) competent in coastal management, tourism, environment, coasts, and cultural heritage, in addition to a representative of the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and one for each provincial council of Alicante, Valencia, and Castellón.

Officials from the general directorate of urban planning, a representative of the affected city council when a municipal urban planning file is being processed, and representatives of organizations and entities with legitimate interests linked to the coast may attend, with voice but without vote.

Quorum, sessions, and simple majority

At least two business days must elapse between the notice with the agenda and the meeting. To be validly constituted, the presence of the Presidency and Secretariat is required and, on the first call, at least half of the members; the second call is understood to be made thirty minutes later, and the presence of the Presidency, Secretariat, and three members is sufficient.

Sessions may be in-person or remote, with one ordinary meeting at least once a year and any extraordinary meetings that are convened. Agreements are adopted by simple majority.

No added cost and with balanced presence

The first additional provision specifies that the application of the decree will have no impact on the expenditure allocations of the competent department, which will manage its operation with its own personnel and material resources. The second additional provision mandates the observance of the principle of balanced presence in appointments, in accordance with Organic Law 3/2007, and the third subjects the processing of personal data to the European and national data protection regime.

The decree thus conditions the governance of all Valencian coastal land: the CICOL will be the body that decides how the new regulation of coastal uses is translated into the future POC, with a direct impact on city councils, developers, tourism activities, and landowners on the first line of the coast.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10468, of October 8, 2026, section I, page 1 (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-30962).