Álava officially processes the special plan for the Bess Barrundia plant

The Provincial Council of Álava has officially initiated the processing and approval procedure for the special plan of the electrical energy storage plant called “Bess Barrundia”, which territorially affects the Alavese municipalities of San Millán and Barrundia. The decision was adopted through Provincial Order 415/2026, of September 8, signed by the Deputy for Territorial Balance and Land Use Planning, Laura Pérez Borinaga, and published in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) number 107, of September 18, 2026 (official reference 2026-02631). The provincial intervention occurs after neither of the two city councils assumed the processing of the plan nor reached an agreement to do so.

A two-month deadline that expired without agreement

The file stems from an immediate precedent: Provincial Order 305/2026, of June 18, from the same department, granted the City Councils of San Millán and Barrundia a two-month period to reach an agreement whereby one of them would assume the processing and approval of the special plan. This resolution was notified to the councils on June 23, 2026, and published in BOTHA number 73, of June 29, 2026.

Once the deadline passed, the Provincial Council noted that the two city councils had not submitted any written document, meaning no agreement exists between the affected local entities. Consequently, the provincial institution assumes the processing and, if applicable, the approval of the special plan, which regulates land use in both municipal boundaries.

The legal basis for the provincial intervention

The resolution is based on the competence of the Department of Territorial Balance and Land Use Planning, in accordance with Provincial Norm 10/2023, of March 15, on the Government, Organization, and Legal Regime of the Provincial Council of Álava, and Provincial Decree 152/2023, of the General Deputy, of June 30, which determines the provincial departments for the 2023-2027 legislature.

The text invokes Article 97.1 of Law 2/2006, which refers special plans to the regulation of partial plans, and Article 95.1, which attributes the formulation primarily to the city councils, without excluding any other natural or legal person. The Provincial Council recognizes a gap in Law 2/2006 regarding the former provision of Article 4.2 of Law 5/98, which reserved for the Provincial Council the initial and provisional approval of supra-municipal plans when no agreement existed between municipalities, unless they affected several historical territories, in which case it corresponded to the Basque Government.

That gap, according to the provincial order, has been judicially resolved through the analogical application of the jurisdictional rules of Article 92 of Law 2/2006 on compatibility plans for general planning, which only provides for provincial intervention when the affected municipalities fail to reach an agreement.

What the resolution orders

The operative part of Provincial Order 415/2026 establishes five points:

• To initiate the processing and approval procedure for the special plan of the electrical energy storage plant “Bess Barrundia”, formulated by Abei Green Energy SL.
• To inform the interested party that the period to agree on the initial approval of the special plan will be three months.
• To warn that, after this period has elapsed without notification of a resolution, the approval will be understood as denied by negative administrative silence, in accordance with urban planning legislation.
• To order the publication of the resolution in the BOTHA.
• To notify the resolution to Abei Green Energy SL and the City Councils of San Millán and Barrundia.

The provincial order further specifies that, as it is a non-qualified procedural act, no appeal may be filed against it.

Impact for the affected municipalities

The resolution transfers the decision regarding the land of two municipalities that failed to reach an agreement to the Provincial Council of Álava, and opens a strict calendar: if there is no initial approval within three months, the plan will lapse due to negative silence. The file affects the implementation of an energy storage infrastructure in the rural environment of Álava, therefore its processing conditions both the urban planning of San Millán and Barrundia and the development of the project promoted by Abei Green Energy SL.

Source: Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA), no. 107, of September 18, 2026, section I — General Assemblies of Álava and Provincial Administration of the Historical Territory of Álava, pp. 1-2 (official reference: 2026-02631).