The State is investigating land ownership in Santiponce

The General Directorate of State Heritage, under the First Undersecretariat of the Government of the Ministry of Finance, has agreed to initiate a patrimonial investigation file regarding two estates located in the municipality of Santiponce (Seville), the transfer of which has been requested by the City Council. The agreement, signed by the Deputy Director General Bernardino Pérez Crespo, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Seville number 167, dated August 28, 2026, with reference BOP-SE-2026-167023.

Object of the file

The investigation refers to the lands through which the old railway of the “La Caridad” Mine of Aznalcóllar to the Guadalquivir ran, in the section that crosses the municipality of Santiponce. It comprises the cadastral estates with references 41089A001090070000XI and 41089A002090060000XF, regarding which it is intended to establish the rights that may correspond to the General State Administration.

The proceedings are part of broader investigation diligences that also affect the layout of the Minas de Cala and San Juan de Aznalfarache railway, as well as its branches of Zufre-Santa Olalla and Ronquillo-Empalme El Castillo de las Guardas-Peña de Hierro-Nerva. In total, the layouts sum up to approximately 175 kilometers and affect a large number of cadastral plots with various owners.

Background and processing

On March 10, 2022, the Sub-Directorate General of State Heritage requested the Delegation of Economy and Finance of Seville to clarify the ownership of the lands and determine if they were State property. The Seville Delegation gave instructions to that of Huelva to open a coordinated file, given the continuity of the railway tracks between both provinces.

The base documentation comes from the Provincial Historical Archive of Seville. According to the report from the Technical Development Unit dated June 13, 2023, the lands are unoccupied and are open plots free for transit. The cadastral certifications of February 7, 2025, relating to the Vía Verde de Itálica, correspond to the two investigated references.

Registry and corporate investigation

The inquiry to the Property Registry of Camas, to which Santiponce belongs, did not yield any estate registered in favor of the concessionary company. The concession was recorded as registered estate 1871 of Aznalcóllar in favor of the Compañía Gaditana de Minas La Caridad de Aznalcóllar in the Property Registry No. 2 of Sanlúcar la Mayor.

The AEAT, by resolution of February 14, 2018, published in the BOE of February 21, 2018, revoked the company’s NIF (A41000563), registered in the Mercantile Registry of Seville.
The Mercantile Registry issued a simple note indicating that the company does not appear as registered.
The cadastral neighbors of plots 9006 (polygon 2) and 9007 (polygon 1) have not claimed ownership nor provided relevant information.

Report of the State Attorney’s Office

The State Attorney’s Office in Seville, in a report dated February 26, 2026, concluded that, given the uncertainty regarding the legal status of the lands, the appropriate course of action is to process a patrimonial investigation file in accordance with articles 45 and following of Law 33/2003, of November 3, on the Patrimony of Public Administrations. The agreement incorporates the indications of the report, especially the hearing of interested third parties and the investigation into the existence or extinction of the concessionary company.

If state ownership were proven, the plots would be transferred free of charge to the City Council of Santiponce, which lacks a registered title of ownership despite appearing in its municipal inventory. The resolution thus opens the way for the municipality to regularize the situation of lands integrated into the Vía Verde de Itálica, which are of patrimonial and tourist interest for the region.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Seville, no. 167, August 28, 2026, State Administration section, pp. 81-84 (official reference: BOP-SE-2026-167023).