Navarra declares the expropriation of the ruined building a…

The Government of Navarra declared urgent, for the purposes of compulsory expropriation, the occupation of the assets and rights affected by the expropriation proceedings of building number 86 on Joaquín Jarauta Street in Pamplona, promoted by the Pamplona City Council. The agreement, dated September 23, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of Navarra number 200, dated October 8, 2026, under section 1.7 Others, and paves the way for the complete demolition and construction of a new building in the heart of the Old Town.

A ruin with three decades of history

The property was already declared in partial ruin in 1991, which led the Pamplona City Council to carry out urgent works and actions in 1992, 1993, 2005, 2007, and 2009. The current file begins with the Mayoral Resolution of May 18, 2022 (RAL 18-MAY-22 (2/US)), which agreed to initiate ex officio the ruin proceedings and the procedure prior to expropriation for breach of urban planning duties, in accordance with article 128.1 of the Legislative Foral Decree 1/2017, of July 26, which approves the Recast Text of the Foral Law on Land Use and Urban Planning.

The Mayoral Resolution of October 13, 2022 (RAL 13-OCT22 (1/US)) declared the state of ruin, granted a one-month period to demolish the property and build a new one, and warned that, should this obligation not be met, the expropriation proceedings would begin. The owner did not comply with the request.

Chronology of the procedure

May 8, 2025: the Plenary of the Pamplona City Council agrees to initiate the expropriation proceedings, the initial approval of assets and rights, and the declaration of social interest, and designates Pamplona Centro Histórico - Iruña Biziberritzen, SA as the beneficiary. It is published in the Official Gazette of Navarra number 105, dated May 28, 2025, and in the Official State Gazette number 126, dated May 26, 2025.
April 16, 2026: the Plenary definitively approves the list of assets and rights, declares the public utility and the need for occupation, and requests the declaration of urgency from the Government of Navarra. It is published in the Official Gazette of Navarra number 98, dated May 21, 2026, and in the Official State Gazette number 104, dated April 29, 2026.
September 23, 2026: the Government of Navarra declares the occupation of the affected assets and rights as urgent.

The reports supporting the urgency

The file incorporates three reports from the Urban Rehabilitation Office of the Department of Urbanism, Housing and Health, dated May 10, 2022, April 25, 2025, and March 24, 2026. All of them base the urgency on the failure to comply with the duty to maintain the building in conditions of safety, health, public ornament, and habitability, which necessitates complete demolition and the construction of a new building.

The beneficiary entity, Pamplona Centro Histórico - Iruña Biziberritzen, SA, certified in the file that it has sufficient credit to cover the payment of the fair price and other economic obligations derived from the procedure.

What the Government agrees and how to appeal it

The agreement is adopted using the powers of article 57 b) of the Organic Law of Reintegration and Improvement of the Foral Regime of Navarra and article 52 of the Compulsory Expropriation Law, with the documentation required by article 52 of the LEF and article 56 of its Regulations. Its points are:

Declare the occupation of the affected assets and rights as urgent.
Publish the agreement in the Official Gazette of Navarra, warning that it exhausts the administrative route.
Notify the Pamplona City Council and Pamplona Centro Histórico - Iruña Biziberritzen, SA.
Forward it to the Legal Management and Local Planning Section and the Technical-Administrative Assistance Section, both of the Legal Advisory and Cooperation Service with Local Entities of the General Directorate of Local Administration and Depopulation.

An optional appeal for reversal may be filed against the agreement before the Government of Navarra within one month, or a direct challenge before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Navarra within two months, counted from the day following its publication. Public administrations may formulate the prior request of article 44 of Law 29/1998, of July 13. The text appears signed by the counselor secretary of the Government of Navarra, Javier Remírez Apesteguía.

Impact on the Old Town

The declaration of urgency allows the Pamplona City Council and the beneficiary company to occupy the property without waiting for the agreement on the fair price, which shortens the deadlines to demolish a ruined building in one of the busiest streets of the Old Town. The measure is published on the same day that the Local Government Board of Pamplona submitted for public information the detailed modification of the Special Protection and Interior Reform Plan of the Old Town, which contemplates the division of housing in eight inadequate or unfit buildings, within the municipal rehabilitation strategy for the historic neighborhood.

Source: Official Gazette of Navarra, number 200, of October 8, 2026, section 1.7 Others, pages 35580-35581 (official reference: BON-2026-200).