Álava partially unlocks Zuia's General Plan and maintains the suspension

The Provincial Council of Álava has declared that the conditions imposed on the General Urban Development Plan of Zuia have been met and has deposited its consolidated text, although it maintains the partial suspension of urban and developable land. This is done through Provincial Order 463/2026, dated September 30, published in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) number 120, dated October 19, 2026, with official reference 2026-02859. The resolution is signed by the Deputy for Territorial Balance and Land Use Planning, Laura Pérez Borinaga.

The regulation arrives eight months after Provincial Order 71/2026, dated February 6, which definitively approved with conditions the municipal planning file for non-developable land and urban land in Jugo, Domaika, Aperregi, and Zarate, and left the rest of the urban land and all developable land suspended. The consolidated text entered the Provincial Council’s urban planning registry on July 15, 2026 and, after analyzing the documentation, the department considers the aspects required in the first provision of that order to be resolved.

What is approved and what remains blocked

The first provision of Provincial Order 463/2026 declares the conditions imposed in 2026 as fulfilled and, at the same time, maintains the partial suspension of the definitive approval in the urban and developable land areas of the municipality. The exception is the four nuclei that were already unlocked in February:

• Jugo
• Domaika
• Aperregi
• Zarate

The reason for the persisting block is the same as eight months ago: the suspension will remain until structural measures are implemented to remedy the deficits of the supply system and until the availability of water resources is verified and favorably reported by URA-Basque Water Agency and the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation. The order specifies that the suspended part cannot be definitively approved if the strategic environmental statement loses its validity.

The Convent loses residential use

The consolidated text introduces a relevant change in area MU.10 “El Convento,” which is now integrated into area MU.03, corresponding to the low-density fabric of Murgia, with a surface area of 535,491 square meters. The global classification remains as private community equipment, but the intended residential housing use is removed.

According to the MU.03 file, that area encompasses 56 new homes and orders general systems D-01/04, E1-01/08, F-01/06, and G-01/07, with land acquisition through expropriation and mandatory transfers from isolated developments. The environmental summary further states that, before executing action AEDP.13—a new street that requires expanding or constructing a bridge over the Ugalde River—the Provincial Council’s Natural Heritage Service must be consulted due to the impact on habitats of community interest.

Deposit, publication, and appeal

The order includes three additional mandates of immediate effect:

• Deposit the general plan in the Administrative Registry of Urban Planning of Álava, where the final approval was registered on September 30, 2026, under registration number 2026/8.
• Publish the resolution in the BOTHA along with the urban planning regulations and the environmental summary, which occupies 772 pages of the bulletin and includes documents B.1 of general regulations, B.2 of specific regulations, B.3 of cultural heritage protection, the Municipal Urbanization Ordinance, and the environmental summary.
• Open the appeal process: against the resolution, which ends the administrative route, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed within two months from the day following its publication before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country.

The file is based on Provincial Decree 152/2023, of June 30, which organizes the provincial departments for the 2023-2027 legislature, and replaces the 2007 Subsidiary Norms (OF 440/2007, of May 21, and OF 554/2007, of June 21). The strategic environmental assessment began with the municipal request on October 9, 2019, and culminated with the declaration sent on February 3, 2025.

Impact for residents and developers

For owners of unconsolidated urban land and developable land in Murgia, Ametzaga Zuia, Bitoriano, Sarria, Gillerna, Lukiano, Markina, and Aretxaga, the approval is still not full: the determinations of the consolidated text may be processed, but developments cannot be closed until water sufficiency is certified before URA and the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation. The plan calculates a growth capacity of 533 homes and aims to complete the vacant land within the existing urban perimeter, without occupying new land, except for specific growth in Bitoriano, Gillerna, and Sarria below 5% of the authorizable homes.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Historical Territory of Álava, no. 120, October 19, 2026, section I, page 1 (official reference: 2026-02859).