The Council eases the justification requirements for DANA aid for cultural heritage

The Consell has approved Decree 132/2026, of September 11, which modifies the regulatory bases for direct aid for the restoration and revitalization of Valencian cultural heritage damaged by the DANA. The regulation removes the obligation to justify a minimum of 40% of the actions before November 2, 2026, considering it materially unfeasible to meet that threshold due to delays in heritage authorizations and tenders. The text is published in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV) no. 10453, of September 17, 2026, section III, with the reference DOGV-C-2026-28704.

The decree modifies Decree 157/2025, of October 28, of the Consell, published in DOGV 10226 of October 30, 2025, which approved the regulatory bases and the direct award procedure for these grants. In execution of that regulation, on December 19, 2025, the Minister of Education, Culture, and Universities resolved the granting of the aid (DOGV 10267, 12.23.2025).

Section 14.4 of Decree 157/2025 required beneficiary individuals and entities to partially justify a minimum of 40% of the subsidized actions no later than November 2, 2026. The preamble of the new decree argues that the date of granting, the direct award procedure, and the nature of the actions—which require heritage-related authorizations and, in the case of local entities, the preparation and tendering of public sector contracts—make reaching that 40% “materially very complicated.”

What Decree 132/2026 changes

• Section 14.4 of Decree 157/2025 is suppressed, thereby removing the requirement to justify the minimum 40% of the actions.
• Sections 14.5, 14.6, and 14.7 are renumbered to become 14.4, 14.5, and 14.6.
• Section 15.3 is modified to allow a partial advance payment, subject to justification according to section 14, with certifications of the works, services, or supplies already completed, no later than November 2, 2026.

Legal framework and intervening bodies

The decree is based on the specific and exceptional regime of articles 5 and 6 of Decree-law 11/2024, of November 12, of the Consell, which adopted administrative and economic-budgetary measures to respond to the DANA of October 28 and 29, 2024. It also invokes article 168.1.C) of Law 1/2015, of February 6, on public finance, the instrumental public sector, and subsidies, and articles 28 c) and 33.2 of Law 5/1983, of December 30, of the Consell.

The text was signed in Elche on September 11, 2026, by the President of the Generalitat, Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca, and by the Minister of Education, Culture, and Universities, María del Carmen Ortí Ferre, at the proposal of the latter and following deliberation by the Consell.

Effects and means of appeal

The decree takes effect from the day following its publication in the DOGV, that is, from September 18, 2026. Against it, which exhausts administrative remedies, the following may be filed:

• An optional appeal for reversal (recurso potestativo de reposición) before the body that issued it, within one month of its publication.
• A contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Comunitat Valenciana, within two months starting from the day following publication.

The flexibility comes just over six weeks after the deadline set by the original calendar and affects local entities and other beneficiaries throughout the flooded area, who face restoration works pending authorizations and tendering. By removing the 40% threshold and enabling partial advance payments, the Generalitat reduces the risk of beneficiaries losing the granted aid due to an inability to certify execution within the deadline.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10453, September 17, 2026, section III (Administrative acts, B) Grants and scholarships), p. 1-2 (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-28704).