Narrillos del Rebollar requires keeping plots and lands clean

The Narrillos del Rebollar City Council has definitively approved the Ordinance Regulating the Cleaning of Land and Plots in Urban, Developable and Rustic Land, which obliges owners of properties in the municipal area to keep them clean, cleared of undergrowth and free of waste. The agreement, adopted by the Plenary at a session held on 13 May 2026, became final as no claims were submitted during the public exhibition period, and its full text is published in the Official Bulletin of the Province of Ávila of 13 August 2026 (number 1648/26).

The regulation is issued under the Law 7/1985, of 2 April, Regulating the Bases of Local Government, and Law 5/1999, of 8 April, on Urban Planning of Castilla y León, which impose on landholders the duty to keep their land in conditions of safety, health and public ornament. In the statement of reasons, the City Council justifies the initiative due to “the situation of the province following the waves of forest fires in recent years” and links it to the municipal Fire Prevention Plan, in order to reduce the risk of fires starting and spreading and to prevent the accumulation of refuse or waste.

Scope and obligations of owners

The ordinance applies to all plots, parcels and land located within the municipality, whether of a rustic, urban or developable nature. The obligations fall on the natural or legal person, whether public or private, who holds the status of owner or, failing that, their successors in title.

• In urban and developable land, cleaning and clearing of undergrowth are required on a permanent basis.
• The rest of the land must be cleared of undergrowth before 1 June each year.
• On rustic land with agricultural or livestock activity, clearing of undergrowth is adapted to the cycles of cultivation, fallow and grazing, although the collection of refuse and dumped waste is required in all cases.
• Interventions in forests, or in the 400-metre strip surrounding them, are subject to the authorisations and safeguards of sectoral regulations, especially during the high fire risk season.

The City Council will supervise compliance and will determine annually or periodically the land that must be subject to treatment. Before the deadline expires, the Mayor’s Office will issue a reminder notice at least three months in advance.

Fines from €1,000 to €10,000

Failure to comply with the duty of maintenance and cleaning is classified as a minor offence in accordance with Article 115.1.c) of Law 5/1999, of 8 April, on Urban Planning of Castilla y León, and is punishable by fines of between €1,000 and €10,000 in accordance with Article 117.1.c) of the same law, without the fine being less than €1,000 or greater than €10,000.

• The amount is scaled according to the criteria of article 117.2 of the Urban Planning Act and, subsidiarily, with those of article 29.3 of the Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector.
• The procedure is processed through the simplified route, with a period of six months to resolve, extendable by another three.
• The offense, being minor, prescribes after four years; the sanction, one year after it becomes final.
• A 50% reduction of the sanction is provided if the offender acknowledges liability and voluntarily pays before the resolution, waiving the right to appeal.
• The authority to initiate and resolve the proceedings corresponds to the mayor, or to the councilor to whom he delegates, and the text is signed by the mayor Óscar Jiménez Jiménez.

Subsidiary execution and collection

When the owner fails to comply with an execution order, the City Council may act through subsidiary execution, carrying out the cleaning itself or through third parties at the expense of the obligated party, with all costs, damages and losses charged. This route is compatible with the imposition of sanctions, and the amount may be required through the enforcement procedure against assets, and collection may be delegated to the Provincial Council of Ávila. The regulation repeals any prior ordinances contrary to its content and will enter into force the day after its publication in the official bulletin.

The new regulation provides the municipality with a prevention instrument against forest fires before the summer season, and imposes on owners of plots, parcels and rustic land throughout the municipality a permanent maintenance obligation whose economic consequences, including fines and subsidiary executions, can reach 10,000 euros.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Ávila, No. 155, 13 August 2026, Local Administration section (official reference: number 1648/26).