The courts annul three sections of León's urban planning regulations

The High Court of Justice of Castilla y León has declared the nullity of three sections of the Territorial Urban Planning Regulations of the provincial scope of León, known as NUT, including the 100-meter distance provided for in Article 168. The judgment, which is final and partially grants appeal no. 921/2024, is published for general knowledge and compliance in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León number 214, dated November 5, 2026, by resolution of the Second Vice-Presidency of the Junta de Castilla y León.

The origin of the conflict

The ruling is issued against Order MAV/628/2024, dated June 19, from the Ministry of Environment, Housing, and Territorial Planning, which definitively approved the instrument and was published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León number 120, dated June 21, 2024.

The Resolution of October 28, 2026, signed by the second vice-president, Isabel Blanco Llamas, orders the insertion of the ruling and reproduces as an annex the text of the affected precepts with the content currently in force. The judgment does not impose an express condemnation of costs.

The three sections that are overturned

The Administrative Litigation Chamber, based in Valladolid, declares the nullity of the following specifics:

• Article 168 solely and exclusively regarding the 100-meter distance.
• The regulatory file of the particular conditions of rustic land with natural protection in the subcategory “Montes de Utilidad Pública” (Public Utility Forests) insofar as it contemplates industrial, commercial, and storage uses.
• The provision contained in Article 144.2 insofar as it classifies small primary processing industries and direct sales linked to agricultural, livestock, forestry, fish farming, or hunting production as agricultural use, regardless of their size.

The text that remains in force

The published annex maintains the 50-meter proximity criteria for the delimitation of urban land: access via a public road integrated into the urban grid, water supply via the municipal network, sanitation via the evacuation network, and low or medium voltage electrical supply.

Furthermore, it establishes that land meeting these criteria may be considered consolidated urban land even if it falls outside the graphic limit, and that land classified as protected rustic land will require a favorable report from the competent administration in the matter of its protection. It expressly excludes the classification as urban for land that relies on supra-municipal infrastructures, such as railway lines, roads, bypasses, canals, dams, reservoirs, high-voltage lines, or agricultural holdings.

In the Public Utility Mountains, the particular conditions maintain for agricultural, livestock, forestry, fish-farming, and game-keeping constructions a maximum land occupancy of 25% —up to 50% on plots of 5,000 square meters or less—, a maximum height of 6 meters to the eaves and 8 to the ridge, and a single floor. For public interest facility uses, a minimum plot of 3,000 square meters and an occupancy of 20% are maintained. The definition of group I of article 144 remains without the deleted section.

Who litigated

• Appellant: the Federación Ecologistas en Acción Castilla y León, represented by the court agent Ms. Calvo Boizas and assisted by the lawyer Mr. Sartorius Alvargonzález.
• Defendant: the Administration of the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, defended by a lawyer from its legal services.
• Co-defendant: the Provincial Council of León, represented by the lawyer Mr. Morote Sarrión.
• Rapporteur: the magistrate María Luaces Díaz de Noriega.

The full text of the updated instrument is available to the public in the Urban Planning and Territorial Ordering Archive of Castilla y León (PLAU), dependent on the Junta.

A change of rules for all provincial rural land

The ruling alters the framework through which city councils, developers, and owners of rural land process licenses and authorizations for exceptional use in the province of León: the 100-meter reference in the delimitation of urban land disappears, the door is closed to industrial, commercial, and storage uses in mountains classified as public utility, and any small processing and direct sales industry linked to agricultural production, regardless of size, ceases to be assimilated as agricultural use. The ruling is final and must be complied with in its own terms.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 214, of November 5, 2026, section I.D Other provisions, pp. 26-31 (official reference: BOCYL-D-05112026-214-11).