The Regional Government begins urgent expropriation to modernize the Villadangos irrigation system

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment and Environmental Policy of the Junta de Castilla y León has initiated the compulsory expropriation proceedings for the assets and rights necessary to execute the “Irrigation modernization project in the Canal de Villadangos (León) Irrigation Community. Phase I-ITACYL.” The decision is formalized in Order AGR/928/2026, of September 17, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León (BOCYL) number 186, of September 24, 2026, within section I.D of other provisions. The procedure will be processed via urgent procedure and the designated beneficiary is the Canal de Villadangos (León) Irrigation Community itself.

The regulatory framework and the origin of the works

ITACYL is a public entity under private law attached to the aforementioned regional ministry and, since Law 2/2017, of July 4, it has been granted competence in the development of irrigable areas. The ITACYL Annual Action Plan for 2019 entrusted it with the modernization works of the irrigable area of the Canal de Villadangos.

The works have been declared of general interest by Law 14/2000, of December 29, and their public utility derives from Article 130 of the Recast Text of the Water Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2001, of July 20. The action affects an irrigable area of 2,954 hectares distributed among the municipalities of Bustillo del Páramo, Chozas de Abajo, San Pedro Bercianos, Valdevimbre, and Villadangos del Páramo, in the province of León.

On November 22, 2021, an agreement was signed between the regional administration, through ITACYL, the State Agricultural Infrastructure Company, S.A. (SEIASA), and the irrigation community. Phase I is also framed within the Plan for the improvement of efficiency and sustainability in irrigation, included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and in the agreement signed on June 25, 2021, between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and SEIASA.

Content of the works and prior processing

The project includes, among other actions:

• The final supply pipeline to the pumping station.
• The pumping station.
• Part of the main irrigation network.
• The associated high and low voltage electrical installations.
• The removal of certain existing irrigation infrastructures.

The project was submitted for public consultation by Resolution of June 18, 2026, of the Director General of ITACYL, for a period of twenty business days, with publication in BOCYL number 119, of June 23, 2026, in the Official Gazette of the Province of León number 120, of June 29, 2026, in the Diario de León of the same date, and in the affected town halls. No objections were filed, therefore the final list of assets and rights coincides with the one presented.

The final approval of the project and the list of affected parties occurred by Resolution of August 18, 2026, of the Director General of ITACYL, published in BOCYL number 162, of August 21, 2026. On August 27, 2026, the irrigation community formally requested the expropriation process.

Affected parties, representatives, and appeals

Annex I of the order lists 114 plots with a total temporary occupation of 110,119 square meters, mostly classified as irrigated farmland. Among the owners are the Town Hall of Villadangos del Páramo, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the León Road Unit, the N-120 Highway, and numerous private owners.

The order appoints as Administration representatives, interchangeably, Natalia Llorente Álvarez, Ana Fernández García, Daniel Cuadrado Zuloaga, Alfredo Torres Gómez, and Pedro García López. Luis Ángel Lastra Díez is listed as the primary expert for the irrigation community, and Javier Fidalgo Vera as the substitute.

Against the order, which exhausts the administrative route, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of Valladolid of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León within two months, and, optionally, a request for reversal (recurso de reposición) before the counselor within one month. The text was signed in Valladolid on September 17, 2026, by the counselor Joaquín Antonio Pino.

Expropriation for urgency allows the Administration to occupy the land before fixing the price, which accelerates land availability for works that must be coordinated with those of SEIASA. For the owners included in the annex, the file opens the period to appear, negotiate the fair price, and, if applicable, appeal.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 186, of September 24, 2026, section I.D Other Provisions, pp. 53-61 (official reference: BOCYL-D-24092026-186-18).