The Regional Government declares the land consolidation of Villaviudas III in Palencia urgent

The Regional Government of Castilla y León has declared the land consolidation of the Villaviudas III area (Palencia) to be of public utility and urgent execution. This is done through Agreement 151/2026, dated October 22, signed by President Alfonso Fernández Mañueco and Councilor Joaquín Antonio Pino, and published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León no. 207, dated October 26, 2026, in section I.D of Other Provisions (reference BOCYL-D-26102026-207-24, pages 239 to 241). The declaration opens the way for the occupation of the lands included within the perimeter and directly affects the agricultural owners of the Cerrato Palentino region.

The agreement is adopted upon the proposal of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment, and Environmental Policy, following deliberation by the Governing Council on October 22, and is supported by Article 38 of Law 1/2014, the Agrarian Law of Castilla y León, and Decree 1/2018, of January 11, which approves the Land Consolidation Regulations. According to these regulations, the procedures begin precisely with the publication of the agreement declaring public utility and urgent execution.

The file originates from municipal requests. The Villaviudas City Council requested the reconsolidation of its district on January 5, 2023, based on the Plenary agreement of November 9, 2022. Subsequently, two other localities joined:

• Baltanás City Council: requested on March 31, 2023, part of polygons 501 and 502, which border Villaviudas and belong to owners from that town (plenary agreement of March 30, 2023).
• Torquemada City Council: requested on September 29, 2023, polygons 534, 535, 536, and 537 of its municipal district.

The prior technical study was approved by the Resolution of January 25, 2024, from the General Directorate of Rural Development, which deduced the convenience of executing the consolidation based on public utility.

A perimeter of 4,443.94 hectares across three municipalities

The agreement delimits the affected area as the entirety of the Villaviudas district, part of polygons 501 and 502 of Baltanás, and polygons 534, 535, 536, and 537 of Torquemada, all in the province of Palencia. The boundaries are the districts of Villamediana, Hornillos de Cerrato, Valle de Cerrato, and Reinoso de Cerrato, as well as the Tablada (or Prado) and Ojeo streams and the C-619 road from Aranda de Duero to Palencia.

The figures handled in the environmental file are as follows:

• Requested area: 4,463.88 hectares.
• Rainfed area: 3,866.88 hectares; irrigated area: 597 hectares.
• Excluded area: 20.43 hectares; consolidatable area: 4,443.94 hectares.

The perimeter is subject to modification based on the inclusions, exclusions, or rectifications that are agreed upon, in accordance with article 17.2.b) of Decree 1/2018.

Modern irrigation and environmental conditions in the Natura 2000 Network

The land consolidation is justified, according to the environmental impact statement, as being the most suitable method for modernizing existing irrigation systems. The project includes a regulation pond of 0.24 cubic hectometers (212,969.15 cubic meters) in the Valdecete area, north of Villaviudas, which will be filled via a pumping station on the Pisuerga River powered by a photovoltaic installation. The planned road network totals 94,993 meters of main roads, 18,962 meters of secondary roads, and 5,041 meters of bypass roads.

The environmental conditions derive from Order AGR/964/2026, of September 22, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León no. 190, of September 30, 2026 (page 123, file EIAO/2024/PA/014), which provides a favorable report on the project. The agreement mandates full compliance with that statement, which establishes, among other requirements:

• Excluding 17 water abstractions from the irrigable area due to extraction from the “Páramo de Esgueva y Cerrato” groundwater body.
• Not using parcels from polygons 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 22, and 23 of Villaviudas as aggregate borrow pits, as they house the priority habitat of gypsum steppes.
• Reviewing the location of the regulation pond, which is close to a wind farm, and placing the new pumping station outside the SAC (ES4140082) “Riberas del Río Pisuerga y afluentes”.
• Maintaining archaeological control during earthworks on livestock trails and within a 25-meter strip on each side.

Two months to appeal before the High Court

The agreement concludes the administrative process. A contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against it before the Valladolid Chamber of the Contentious-Administrative Court of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León within two months from the day following its publication. Optionally, a motion for reconsideration may be filed before the same body that issued it within one month. The regional ministry is authorized to issue the necessary complementary provisions.

The declaration has immediate effects on rural property: it activates the consolidation procedure, with the resulting reorganization of estates and the temporary occupation of land to execute roads, drainage, and the irrigation network. For the farmers of Villaviudas, Baltanás, and Torquemada, the calendar for objections, provisional bases, and the delivery of new parcels begins from this publication, and the environmental conditions mark the limits of a project that aims to transform the entire Pisuerga valley into irrigated land as it passes through the three municipalities.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 207, of October 26, 2026, section I.D Other Provisions, pages 239-241 (official reference: BOCYL-D-26102026-207-24).