Urgent expropriation of land to adapt the La Poveda wastewater treatment plant

The Regional Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Interior of the Community of Madrid has declared the urgent occupation of the assets and rights affected by the project to adapt the La Poveda wastewater treatment plant, in the municipality of Arganda del Rey and also affecting Rivas-Vaciamadrid. The decision is formalized in Order 3710/2026, which is made public through the Resolution of October 9, 2026, by the Director General of Land and is inserted in the BOCM number 249, of October 19, 2026, within section I.D (Announcements). The expropriation file is number 439.

The order is based on Article 52 of the Compulsory Expropriation Law of December 16, 1954, and Article 20 of its implementing Regulations, approved by Decree of April 26, 1957, and Article 19.3 of Law 3/2007, of July 26, on Urgent Measures for the Modernization of the Government and Administration of the Community of Madrid. The beneficiary entity of the file is Canal de Isabel II.

A project to comply with European regulations

The objective of the project is the adaptation of the La Poveda WWTP to comply with current legislation regarding wastewater treatment, through the construction of new elements and the modification of existing ones. The works will be carried out inside the treatment plant, on the land occupied by elements that will be decommissioned, and on adjacent plots, as the current plot does not have sufficient free surface area.

The urgency is justified by the “unpostponable need” to comply with the National Water Quality Plan (Directive 91/271/EEC) and the Hydrological Plan for the Spanish part of the Tagus Hydrographic Demarcation 2023-2027, approved by Royal Decree 35/2023, of January 24. The file has sufficient credit to cover the expropriation compensations.

Four previous resolutions and no neighborhood objections

The processing has accumulated several milestones published in the regional bulletin itself:

• Resolution of February 26, 2019, of the Director General for Environment and Sustainability: environmental impact report, published in BOCM number 56, of March 7, 2019, which rules out significant effects and exempts the project from the ordinary evaluation procedure.
• Resolution of June 12, 2024, of the Director General for Energy Transition and Circular Economy: strategic environmental statement, published in BOCM number 152, of June 27, 2024.
• Urban Planning Commission of the Community of Madrid, session of February 26, 2026: final approval of the Special Infrastructure Plan, published in BOCM number 59, of March 11, 2026.
• Order 2024/2026, of May 27: submission for public consultation of the list of assets and rights, published in BOCM number 130, of June 3, 2026, and in the newspaper El Mundo on June 24, 2026, with a fifteen-day exhibition on the notice board of Rivas-Vaciamadrid.

No allegations were filed within the public consultation period, as stated in the order itself.

Appearance in December and properties in two municipalities

The annex to the order details the affected assets, specifying the polygon, plot, owner, area, urban classification, and summons date. Among the published data is a property in Rivas-Vaciamadrid (file 439), with the following characteristics:

• Polygon 13, plot 9; owner: IPSILON GREEN POWER, SA.
• Affected area: 2,448 square meters, classified as pastures and non-developable protected land (SNUP).
• Drawing up of the preliminary record: December 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM.
• Internal file reference: 01/16.789/26.

Interested parties may submit allegations, up until the time the preliminary record is drawn up, solely to correct possible errors in the list of assets, addressed to the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture, and Interior. Legal entities are required to communicate via electronic means through the Community of Madrid’s electronic office; natural persons may do so in person at the registry located at Alcalá, 16, Madrid.

Appeals and effects

Against the order, which exhausts administrative remedies, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the same body within one month from the day following its notification or publication, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the High Court of Justice of Madrid within two months. The order will also be published in two of the widest-circulation newspapers and communicated to the city councils for display on their notice boards; for unknown interested parties or those with an unknown address, an announcement will be published in the Official State Gazette, in accordance with Article 44 of Law 39/2015.

The declaration affects landholders in Arganda del Rey and Rivas-Vaciamadrid, whose plots will be occupied before the price is set: the urgent procedure allows for the drafting of a prior record and occupation without waiting for the valuation agreement, meaning that owners must be attentive to the notification of appearance and the two-month deadline if they decide to challenge it. The work, framed within the National Water Quality Plan, is essential for improving wastewater treatment in the southeast of the region.

Source: BOCM, no. 249, of October 19, 2026, section I.D (Announcements), pp. 255-257 (official reference: BOCM-20261019-55).