Public information for the Pradejón pig macro-farm and its environmental impact

The Official Gazette of La Rioja opens this Wednesday the public information process for the Integrated Environmental Authorization and the ordinary environmental impact assessment of a pig fattening farm in Pradejón. The announcement is published in issue 203, dated October 21, 2026, page 17673, within section III of other provisions and acts. The file, identified as IPPC 105 / AAI 09-2026 and EIA 11-2026, is promoted by Francisco Javier Montávez Ezquerro.

The procedure is driven by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural World and Environment of the Government of La Rioja and is based on article 16 of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2016, of December 16, which approves the revised text of the Law on integrated pollution prevention and control. At the regional level, article 22 of Decree 29/2018, of September 20, is applied, which develops Title I of administrative intervention of Law 6/2017 on Environmental Protection of La Rioja, as amended by Decree 26/2024, of September 3.

The announcement was signed in Logroño on October 18, 2026, by the Director General of Environmental Quality, Climate Change and Water, Isabel Vitoria Díez, and bears the secure verification code BOR-A-20261021-III–3984, with reference 202610190125081 and internal publication identifier III.3984.

Thirty business days to file objections

The public exhibition period is thirty business days starting from the publication of the announcement in the Official Gazette of La Rioja. During this period, any party interested in the file may submit the objections and observations they deem appropriate.

The writings must be addressed to the Directorate General of Environmental Quality, Climate Change and Water, located at calle Prado Viejo, 62-bis, Logroño. The process is completed with the hearing of the interested parties and the simultaneous request for the technical reports required by the nature of the activity, in accordance with article 28 of Decree 29/2018.

Project consultation and electronic means

The project documentation can be consulted on the Government of La Rioja website, in the sections for IPPC files processed in 2026 and environmental impact assessments in the public information phase. Objections should preferably be submitted using the form enabled on the Encuestas NetPortal platform.

The announcement warns that, if this form is not used, the Department is expressly authorized to forward the objections to third parties who request them, under Law 27/2006, of July 18, which regulates access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters. Otherwise, the interested party must expressly indicate so.

Urban planning background of the same promoter

The environmental processing is not the first public procedure for this project. The Official Gazette of La Rioja number 176, dated September 14, 2026, page 15848, had already submitted for public consultation for twenty days the construction of a fattening pig farm on plots 4, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 of polygon 4, in the Cantarroyuela Baja area of Pradejón, under file 02-NU/2026-0015 and with the same promoter. That procedure corresponded to the General Directorate of Urbanism and Housing, which resolved it in accordance with article 53.6 of Law 5/2006 on Land Use and Urban Planning of La Rioja.

The sequence is repeated in other files from the same department: one day prior, number 202 of the gazette, dated October 20, published an equivalent announcement for an organic byproduct management plant in Cervera del Río Alhama.

Impact on the environment

The opening of the period turns the file into a matter of direct interest for the residents of Pradejón and for the Riojan agricultural sector as a whole, which faces a new chapter in the expansion of intensive pig farms. The dual condition of environmental authorization and ordinary impact assessment places the focus on water consumption, slurry management, emissions, and the livestock load in the Ebro environment. The allegations submitted within the next thirty business days will condition the content of the resolution that finally grants or denies the authorization.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 203, dated October 21, 2026, section III (Other provisions and acts), p. 17673 (official reference: BOR-A-20261021-III–3984 / 202610190125081).