The High Court of the Canary Islands annuls the capital's waste tax

The First Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands has upheld the appeal filed by the Fundación Canaria Escuelas de Antúnez and has declared the Fiscal Ordinance Regulating the Fee for the Provision of the Waste Collection, Transport, and Treatment Service under the municipal jurisdiction of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to be unlawful. This was done through Judgment 367/2026, issued on July 6, 2026, the ruling of which is now published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 (number 126, page 18044, official reference 2139135).

The announcement, number 3,365 of the gazette, is signed by the head of the Tax Management Body of the Government Area of Presidency, Treasury, Modernization, Human Resources, and Water, Guadalupe Betancor Montesdeoca, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on October 19, 2026. The insertion is made “for general knowledge and for the appropriate legal purposes,” in compliance with the provisions of Article 72.2 of Law 29/1988, of July 13, regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction.

The content of the ruling

The published text reproduces in full the operative part of the judicial resolution, articulated in two pronouncements:

• First: to uphold Contentious-Administrative Appeal number 216/2025 filed against the fiscal ordinance of the waste fee, “for not being in accordance with the law.”
• Second: to make no special pronouncement regarding costs.

The official announcement is limited to the ruling: it does not incorporate the legal grounds of the judgment nor does it detail the specific scope of the declaration of non-conformity regarding the settlements already issued under the ordinance.

Who litigated and before which body

The data appearing in the official publication are as follows:

• Judicial body: First Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.
• Procedure: Contentious-Administrative Appeal number 216/2025.
• Appellant: Fundación Canaria Escuelas de Antúnez.
• Procedural representation: the Court Procurator Andrés Rodríguez Ramírez.
• Resolution: Judgment 367/2026, of July 6, 2026.
• Publication: Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas number 126, of October 21, 2026, page 18044, reference 2139135.

The framework of the municipal waste fee

The affected ordinance regulates the fee for the provision of the collection, transport, and treatment of waste services under municipal jurisdiction, a local tax linked to a service that city councils are mandatory to provide. The legal framework in which this matter is inscribed was described in the municipal documentation published this same month: Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, whose eighth final provision obliges local entities to approve ordinances adapted to the new regulations, and Decree 160/2021, of December 30, which approved the Comprehensive Waste Plan of the Canary Islands 2021-2027 and urges municipalities to update their waste management ordinances.

In parallel, the Plenary of the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria definitively approved on September 25, 2026, the Urban Hygiene Ordinance regarding the cleaning of public spaces and waste management under municipal jurisdiction, published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas number 119, of October 5, 2026. This is a different regulation from the fiscal ordinance now highlighted by the ruling, although it shares the same material scope of municipal waste management.

What this means for taxpayers

The publication of the ruling in the official gazette makes the judicial declaration—that the fiscal ordinance regulating the waste fee of the capital municipality does not comply with the legal system—a public and verifiable fact. The announcement is limited to reproducing the ruling and ordering its general dissemination, without the inserted text specifying the scope of the annulment or the fate of the quotas paid by the taxpayers of the fee. Any concrete effect on settlements, receipts, or refunds will depend on the full content of Judgment 367/2026 and the actions that, if applicable, the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria adopts in execution of the judicial resolution.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas, number 126, of October 21, 2026, section I, page 18044 (official reference: 2139135).