Guissona approves the regulations for the funeral parlor and wake rooms service

The Plenary of the Guissona City Council definitively approved on September 3 the modification of municipal regulation no. 34, which regulates funeral home services and wake rooms in the municipality. The agreement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Lleida (BOP) no. 175, of September 14, 2026, with the official reference BOP-2026_0_175_7561.

The regulation, signed by secretary Josep Raimat Quintana, organizes a service declared essential and of general interest and is part of the liberalization of the funeral sector, while ensuring sanitary control and the protection of users. The full text is made public in compliance with article 178 of the Recast Text of the Municipal and Local Regime Law of Catalonia and article 65 of the Regulation of Works, Activities and Services of Local Entities.

An essential service with public and private operators

The regulation establishes that the provision of funeral services can be assumed by the City Council under a public service regime or by private operators under a free competition regime, subject to a regulated municipal authorization. If no private operator provides the service, the council must ensure that it does not remain unattended.

The regulation distinguishes between indispensable basic provisions and complementary ones:

• Basic: information and attention to demand, supply of coffins and urns, hygienic practices, placement in the coffin, transport and transfer, and documentary management until burial or cremation.
• Complementary: ceremony, protocol, ornaments, floristry, remembrance cards and accompanying vehicles, which must be contracted separately and cannot condition the basic services.

User rights and non-discrimination guarantees

Users have the right to receive services with respect for dignity, privacy, and grief, and without discrimination based on religion or other circumstances. Operators must guarantee clear and non-misleading information, avoid abusive practices taking advantage of the state of mourning, and provide an understandable budget before contracting.

Operators must have a catalog of provisions, maintain a register of services provided, and offer a system for complaints and claims. The City Council may inspect facilities, vehicles, materials, and records, and may establish social provisions to guarantee access to basic services for people lacking resources.

Location and technical conditions

Funeral homes and wake rooms must be located on land where planning allows funeral use, especially on land qualified as a Funeral Service Equipment System (key E8b). Location in buildings shared with residential, commercial, or industrial uses is considered incompatible.

The facilities must guarantee dignity, discretion, and hygienic-sanitary control, with wake units that physically separate the family area from the coffin display area, and with premises for temporary storage and thanatopraxy. Public accesses must be direct and independent, and the unloading of coffins must be carried out out of public view.

Deadlines and entry into force

Operators already carrying out the activity will have 3 months to adapt to the obligations of cataloging, registration, transparency, and minimum technical conditions. The regulation will enter into force the day after its full publication in the official bulletin.

An administrative appeal may be filed against the agreement before the contentious-administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, based in Barcelona, within a period of two months from publication.

The new regulation responds to a sensitive and essential service for the residents of Guissona, in a moment of liberalization of the sector, and reinforces transparency, non-discrimination, and the guarantee of access to basic services in a time of grief.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Lleida, no. 175, September 14, 2026, Local Administration section - City Councils, pp. 1-10 (official reference: BOP-2026_0_175_7561).