Montilla definitively approves its Tree Master Plan and dismisses allegations

The Montilla City Council has definitively approved the municipality’s Tree Master Plan and has entirely dismissed the allegations requesting a review of the planting criteria for the common privet due to alleged risks to public health. The decision was adopted via a Mayoral resolution dated September 11, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba No. 187, dated September 28, 2026 (reference BOP-A-2026-3149).

The announcement, processed by the Infrastructure and Environment Department under file Gex. 2023/26885, is issued by virtue of the powers conferred by Article 21.1 s) of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the Bases of Local Government. The text signed by the mayor, Rafael Ángel Llamas Salas, dated September 14, 2026, orders the publication of the resolution in the Official Gazette of the Province and on the City Council’s Notice Board.

The Plan is conceived as a strategic municipal instrument that establishes criteria and guidelines for the planning and maintenance of urban trees in the medium and long term, with the aim of achieving functional tree cover at each stage of its life cycle and optimizing the overall set of trees and palms in the town.

A strategic instrument with eleven documents

The Master Plan is structured into the following documents, all of which are published on the municipal environment website:

• Part I: General aspects.
• Part II: Analysis of the current situation.
• Part III: Challenges, strategies, and lines of action.
• Guidelines for the drafting of new planting projects.
• Guidelines for species selection.
• Guidelines for the comprehensive maintenance of trees.
• Guidelines for the management of singular trees and large specimens.
• Guidelines for the protection of trees against construction works.
• Risk and incident management protocol for trees.
• Particular Technical Specifications Clause for the planting of roadside trees in new urbanization works of public or private initiative.
• Design proposal for the parks and gardens of Montilla, communication and citizen participation plan, and protocol for resolving ownership discrepancies of trees.

The resolution emphasizes the role of urban trees as elements for fixing and filtering pollutants, regulating climate and surface runoff, attenuating noise, and acting as a sink for atmospheric CO2.

Dismissed allegations regarding the common privet

During the public information period, allegations and a request for a review of the urban tree criteria regarding the planting of common privet specimens were submitted, as it was considered that the species presents “proven risks to public health.” The entry was registered on May 26, 2026, under number 042/RE/E/2026/4458.

The Environment technical report contained in file 2026/16785 analyzes the allegations and proposes their full dismissal, as it confirms that sanitary risk management, transparency, and botanical planning are already integrated into the current municipal regulatory instruments. The report concludes that the submissions do not provide elements of judgment or novel technical grounds that justify altering the criteria already ratified in the Urban Tree Master Plan.

From initial to final approval

The processing of the Plan extended throughout 2026:

• On April 29, 2026, it was initially approved by Mayor’s Decree No. 2026/0000311, with a public information period of twenty days.
• On May 14, 2026, the announcement with Mayor’s Resolution No. 2026/00003111 was published in the Official Provincial Gazette No. 92, with the hearing period beginning on May 15 and ending on June 11, 2026.
• On September 11, 2026, the resolution was issued dismissing the allegations and definitively approving the Plan.

The agreement is structured in three points: to dismiss the allegations submitted under entry registry 042/RE/E/2026/4458, forwarding the report and the resolution to the interested party; to definitively approve the Montilla Tree Master Plan; and to publish the resolution in the Official Provincial Gazette and on the municipal Notice Board.

With this final approval, Montilla provides its municipal management with a stable roadmap for urban trees, which will condition new plantings, the maintenance of existing specimens, and the protection of singular trees against construction works in the coming years. The document is available to the public on the municipal environment website, allowing for the consultation of the criteria applied to each intervention on trees and palms within the municipality.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Córdoba, No. 187, September 28, 2026, Local Administration, page 14056 (official reference: BOP-A-2026-3149).