Guadalajara publishes Modification number 9 of the PGOU regarding equipment use

The Guadalajara City Council has republished in full the text of the Specific Modification number 9 of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) regarding the regulations for community use and the construction of buildings for community uses. The new publication corrects an error detected in the announcement appearing in the Guadalajara Provincial Bulletin number 41, dated February 28, 2025, and is disseminated in the Official Bulletin of the Province of Guadalajara number 206, dated October 28, 2026. The modification, definitively approved by Order 26/2025, of February 14, will enter into force once the period provided for in article 65.2 of Law 7/1985, regulating the Bases of Local Regime, has elapsed.

The process began with the Plenary agreement of September 2, 2024, which initially approved the modification. The definitive approval was granted by the Ministry of Public Works of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha through Order 26/2025, of February 14, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha on February 25, 2025. Now, in accordance with article 157 of the Planning Regulations, the full text is disseminated, signed in Guadalajara on October 23, 2026, by the mayor Ana Cristina Guarinos López.

The scope of application consists of land classified as a general or local system destined for community uses, the ownership of which belongs to public administrations—that is, buildings for public facilities. The modification, promoted by the City Council itself, pursues three objectives: to incorporate public residential facilities, to flexibilize the construction parameters of the facilities, and to update the technical and sectoral regulatory references.

Public residential facilities enter the PGOU

Article 68 of the Urban Planning Regulations incorporates a seventh typology of community use: public residential facilities. In parallel, ordinance number 09, relating to construction for community uses, creates a new grade 2 specifically destined for that typology. The regulated purpose is temporary housing for people with difficulties in emancipation or those who require shelter or residential assistance, always under a public regime and to satisfy temporary needs.

The measure transfers to the general planning the definition of public residential facility land contained in sub-point 10.1 of the preliminary provision of the consolidated text of the Law on Land Use and Urban Activity (TRLOTAU/23), approved by Legislative Decree 1/2023, of February 28. As compatible uses for the new grade 2, those linked to the activity of these dwellings are permitted, in addition to the single-family family home that guards the community facility and the public residential facility annexed to the community facilities.

Greater height and fewer setbacks for large facilities

The second alteration flexibilizes the maximum number of floors, the maximum height, and the side and rear setbacks of the detached building established for grade 1 and special grade 1. The objective is to allow the complete execution of facilities with unique functional and programmatic requirements. The resulting parameters from the buildability and form conditions table are:

• Grade 1 (typologies 1 to 6, except hospitals): 4 floors and a maximum eave height of 13.90 meters.
• Special Grade 1 (typology 6, hospitals): 12 floors and a maximum eave height of 48 meters.
• Grade 2 (public residential facilities): 4 floors and a maximum eave height of 13.90 meters.
• Net buildability of 2.00 square meters per square meter across the three grades.
• Total ground floor occupancy coefficient of 60% for grade 1 and 70% for special grade 1 and grade 2.
• Minimum plot of 500 square meters, minimum floor height of 3.00 meters, and setbacks of 5.00 meters from the facade, side, and rear.

These parameters may be modified through the approval of a detailed study when the specific conditions of the facility require it, as it is consolidated land, respecting buildability in all cases. In urban land polygons or areas with incorporated planning whose projected buildability is less than 2 square meters per square meter or with fewer than four floors, it may be increased up to that maximum.

Prohibited uses and regulatory update

The ordinance maintains the prohibition of private residential use, industrial use in all its categories, commercial use in all its categories, and transport-related use in its 3rd and 4th categories. The characteristic use of special grade 1 remains the hospital, with the necessary compatible uses linked to its activity.

The third of the alterations replaces the list of specific regulations in article 68 with a general provision regarding the applicable technical and sectoral regulations. The resulting text refers to the current regulations according to the use and purpose of each building and the regulations applicable to the installations it contains at the time the license is requested.

Deadlines and appeal process

As it approves a provision of a general nature, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against the agreement before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha, based in Albacete, within two months from the day following the receipt of the notification, in accordance with article 46 of Law 29/1998, of July 13. Entry into force will occur once the period specified in article 65.2 of Law 7/1985 has elapsed.

The republication directly affects owners of endowment land, developers, and residents of the capital, who now have a consolidated text without the error that persisted in the February 2025 version. The most relevant change is the opening of public endowment land for temporary housing for groups with emancipation difficulties or reception needs, along with the possibility of increasing hospital facilities up to 12 stories and 48 meters.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Guadalajara, no. 206, October 28, 2026, section I (City Councils), pp. 1-7 (official reference: 2026_2812).