Lora de Estepa reduces the minimum plot size for fuels to 1,500 square meters

The extraordinary plenary session of the Lora de Estepa City Council definitively approved on November 3, 2026, the modification of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) which reduces the minimum plot size required for service stations and fuel and petroleum product supply units on non-developable land from 7,500 to 1,500 square meters. The agreement was adopted under the sixth item of the agenda and is announced by the mayor-president, Enrique Jiménez Rivas. The resolution is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Seville number 217, dated November 10, 2026, pages 117 to 121, with the official reference CVE: BOP-SE-2026-217017.

The modification affects article 6.4.14 (“Implementation conditions”) of Section III, Chapter 4, Title VI of the PGOU urban planning regulations. The innovation document was drafted by the municipal architect Pedro Gragera Recio and was proposed by the initiative of the Most Excellent City Council of Lora de Estepa itself. The current planning stems from the definitive approval on March 17, 2016, by the Territorial Commission for Land Use and Urban Planning.

Less required surface area and two new distances

The new text articulates the change in three determinations for non-developable land, which are added to the conditions that already governed urban land:

• Reduction of the minimum plot from 7,500 to 1,500 square meters.
• Minimum distance of 500 meters to other existing supply facilities, measured by actual travel distance along the road network.
• Minimum radial distance of 50 meters to existing buildings or plots designated in the planning for residential, institutional, or tertiary use, measured from the geometric center of the storage tanks or the dispensers, whichever point is most unfavorable.

The document specifies that the modification does not alter the remaining determinations of the PGOU in force and that on non-developable land, only those intended for shops, workshops, and cafeteria-restaurants will be permitted as complementary uses.

The municipality has no supply facilities

The justification for the change is based on the experience accumulated since 2016: the requirement of 7,500 square meters has proven to be “an excessive limitation” that restricts the number of suitable plots. The file confirms that Lora de Estepa currently lacks fuel supply facilities, forcing the resident population to travel to neighboring municipalities to access this basic service.

The two introduced distances seek to compensate for the expansion of possible sites. The 500 meters are intended to avoid an excessive concentration of establishments and reduce accumulated access points on the same road section; the 50 radial meters function as a corrective measure against traffic nuisances, acoustic emissions, or nighttime lighting on sensitive uses.

What remains in urban and developable land

The conditions for urban land remain intact and require exclusive and isolated facilities, on plots without adjacent buildings, with adequate access and adaptation to the urban environment, a minimum plot size of 1,000 square meters, and compensatory measures to improve the natural urban environment. Implementation via administrative concession in public spaces adjacent to the road system is also permitted, with a maximum time limit of 15 years and an express buyout clause.

In developable land, stations must be provided for in the corresponding partial plan, justify compliance with the conditions of section 2, and be located on an exclusive block with perimeter streets of a minimum width of 12 meters. In all cases, 30% of the surface area is reserved for trees and 20% for outdoor rest areas for road users; if the complementary use is an automotive workshop, its surface area may not exceed half of that dedicated exclusively to the service station.

The modification conditions the municipality’s land in two ways: it opens the door to the first fuel installation in the district while establishing separation rules that dictate where it may be located. For neighbors, developers, and owners of rural plots, the new article 6.4.14 is henceforth the reference for any installation request in Lora de Estepa.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Seville, no. 217, November 10, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 117-121 (official reference: CVE: BOP-SE-2026-217017).