Environmental reports pave the way for urban planning chang…

The Director of Environmental Administration, Nicolás García-Borreguero Uribe, in a resolution signed on October 8, 2026, does not require an ordinary strategic environmental assessment for the punctual modification of the General Urban Development Plan of Donostia / San Sebastián, in the IB.12 Illarra area and the Villa Ereski (AY.18 Munto), Depósito (IB.17 Fundación Matia), and Erregenea plots. The resolution was published in issue number 209 of the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco on November 2, 2026, with official reference 2026/4609. The decision of the environmental body clears the way for the Donostia City Council to proceed with the approval process for the modification, provided that the protection and correction measures established in the resolution are incorporated.

This modification is not new: the first version of the plan was approved by the Donostia City Council on March 24, 2022, following a simplified strategic environmental assessment concluded by the Resolution of November 27, 2018. The Lugaritz-Aiete-Ibaeta neighborhood association filed contentious-administrative appeal 530/2022, and the Second Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Basque Autonomous Community, through judgment 482/2024 dated October 25, 2024, partially annulled the modification. The adjustment document approved following the judgment was also invalidated by the order of January 13, 2026, and the order of February 11 specified that a new modification, limited only to the annulled parts, had to be processed. In March 2026, the council approved the formulation and launched the citizen participation program; the request for evaluation reached the environmental body on July 3, 2026, and consultations began on July 23.

Four areas, four different surfaces

The plan’s area of influence covers four zones in Donostia / San Sebastián, where the 2022 modifications adjusted the structural determinations:

IB.12 Illarra: located in the Ibaeta neighborhood; it is irregular in shape and has a surface area of 53,806 square meters in sub-area IB.12.1.
Villa Ereski (AY.18 Munto): a plot in the Aiete neighborhood, measuring 5,339 square meters.
Depósito (IB.17 Fundación Matia): located at the south-eastern tip of Ibaeta, measuring 1,895 square meters.
Erregenea: lands in the Antiguo-Ondarreta neighborhood, measuring 5,925 square meters.

Protected housing and urban adjustment

The judgment must be fulfilled around three axes, for which the resolution includes specific quantities:

Illarra: 19,340.25 square meters of buildable area are allocated to public protected housing, corresponding to 75% of the 25,787 square meter increase; 11 building plots and a portion of another are added to this regime.
AI.1/AY.18-IB.17: it is classified as an integrated action, with a surface area of 6,952 square meters —5,339 from Villa Ereski, 845 from Depósito, and 768 from Erregenea— and a residential increase of 3,840 square meters is maintained, with 20% public protected housing and 20% price-capped housing.
Erregenea: 5,925 square meters are maintained as non-urbanizable land, as part of the general system of open spaces F.10.

Environmental conditions

The resolution imposes a set of protection and correction measures on the project, including:

Control of acoustic quality, as the city council must produce a justification report before granting the building permit.
Planting garden areas with autochthonous species, and a ban on using the invasive Fallopia japonica, Robinia pseudoacacia, and Cortaderia selloana.
Sustainable drainage systems and treatment of runoff to reduce soil sealing.
Waste management according to Law 7/2022 and the regulations in force in the field of construction waste.
Protection of cultural heritage, stopping works if any finds are made during excavations and notifying the Culture Department of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.
In the case of works lasting more than six months, conducting an acoustic impact study.

Notable environmental values

These areas are located within the Urumea hydrological unit, and in the basin of the Igara stream. Illarra and Erregenea are within the area of special interest for the Hyla meridionalis (Mediterranean tree frog), and this species has a management plan approved by the Provincial Order of November 10, 1999. In Illarra, an oak grove stands out, including a pedunculate oak included in the catalog of singular trees; in Erregenea, however, broadleaf forests and the species Ruscus aculeatus have significant weight. Among the risks, the resolution notes that the 500-year return period of the Igara flood problem partially touches the eastern tip of Illarra, and that the green infrastructure network of Gipuzkoa locates Erregenea within an area of interest for ecological functionality (ZIFE GAB-DOUK-01).

Validity

The environmental report has a validity of four years. If the specific change is not approved within that period, the procedure will be considered finished and the evaluation must start again, unless the environmental body is asked to extend the validity.

The next step for the City Council is to approve the change with the conditions gathered in the resolution, as the environmental body has explicitly specified that this is the condition for proceeding, and always assuming the measures in the field of acoustic quality and environmental integration.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Basque Country, No. 209, November 2, 2026, Section I (official reference: 2026/4609).