Medellín definitively approves its municipal plan against the risk of flooding

The Medellín City Council has definitively approved its Municipal Action Plan for flood risk. The agreement was adopted by the Plenary of the corporation in a session held on October 15, 2026, after the Permanent Civil Protection Commission of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura issued a favorable report on August 5, 2026. The announcement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz number 201, corresponding to Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with the reference Announcement 4147/2026, within the Local Administration section.

The published text is limited to reporting the plenary agreement and the completed prior procedure, and is made public “for general knowledge.” The signature corresponds to the Mayor’s Office-Presidency, exercised by Rafael Mateos Torres.

The approval of municipal action plans for specific risks corresponds to the municipality itself. This is established by article 33.1.b) of Law 10/2019, of April 11, on civil protection and emergency management of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, a regulation that the announcement expressly invokes as the jurisdictional basis for the agreement.

Plenary approval and regional endorsement

The administrative itinerary of the plan follows the usual procedure for this type of instrument:

• October 15, 2026: the Plenary of the Medellín City Council definitively approves the Municipal Action Plan for flood risk.
• August 5, 2026: the Permanent Civil Protection Commission of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura issues a favorable report, a prior step required by regional regulations.
• October 20, 2026: the agreement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Badajoz (number 201), via Announcement 4147/2026.

The favorable report from the Permanent Commission is an indispensable requirement: without it, the local body cannot finalize the approval of the planning instrument.

The regulatory framework of planning

Law 10/2019 articulates civil protection planning at the regional and local levels and assigns city councils the approval of their municipal action plans. Added to this regulation is Decree 32/2023, of April 5, which regulates the Registry of Civil Protection Plans of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and sets the structure, minimum content, approval regime, maintenance, and implementation of these instruments.

The framework is completed by the Special Civil Protection Plan for Flood Risk in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (INUNCAEX), which determines which municipalities, based on their hazard level, must have a specific plan for flash floods and flooding.

A wave of plans in the province

The publication for Medellín joins a continuous sequence of similar approvals over the last month and a half in the province of Badajoz. Among the municipalities that have submitted their plans to the bulletin are Mérida, Don Benito, La Garrovilla, Valdelacalzada, Rena, Valverde de Mérida, Solana de los Barros, Torremayor, Villalba de los Barros, and Cordobilla de Lácara, among others.

Several of these announcements detail that the plan defines the organization and procedures to provide a coordinated response to pre-emergency and emergency situations, and provides for requesting the mobilization of INUNCAEX resources when municipal resources prove insufficient.

The final approval of Medellín’s plan closes the municipal process and enables the city council to promote its registration in the regional civil protection plans registry, a step required by Extremaduran regulations following the agreement of the competent local body.

For the residents of Medellín, the agreement means having a formal instrument that organizes the municipality’s response to floods: who directs the emergency, how the alert is activated, and with what means action is taken until the arrival of supra-municipal resources. Publication in the official bulletin also provides publicity and a certain date to the document, a necessary condition for its full effectiveness and for its registration in the regional registry.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Badajoz, no. 201, October 20, 2026, Local Administration, page 2 (official reference: Announcement 4147/2026).