Pájara approves the driveway tax that replaces the public price

The Pájara City Council has definitively approved the Fiscal Ordinance regulating the fee for the entry of vehicles via sidewalks and reservations of public roads for exclusive parking, vehicle stopping, and loading and unloading of goods of any kind (file OF-M 1/2025). The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas, number 101, Monday, August 24, 2026, page 14968, and will enter into force the day following its publication.

The plenary agreement for provisional approval, adopted on January 29, 2026, was automatically elevated to definitive upon the expiration of the public exhibition period without any claims being filed, in accordance with article 17.4 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, which approves the Revised Text of the Law Regulating Local Treasuries (TRLRHL). The text was signed in Pájara on August 19, 2026.

From public price to fee

The main novelty is the change in legal nature: the use of driveways (vados), which until now was regulated as a public price, is now configured as a fee for the private use or special exploitation of the local public domain. The previous ordinance, approved by the Plenary on September 30, 1989, and applied since January 1, 1990, is replaced by the new text.

The regulation is supported by articles 4.1.a) and b) and 106 of Law 7/1985, regulating the Bases of Local Regime (LBRL), and articles 2.1.b), 20, and 57 of the TRLRHL. The quota is calculated using the formula: basic rate per affected surface or length, multiplied by a correction coefficient according to the category of the road and by a correction factor according to the type of use. The basic rate is set at 13.231 euros per linear meter.

Rates according to the type of use

The ordinance establishes six rates with correction factors that weight the intensity of the use and the impact on the public domain:

• Rate 1, residential use: 0.65.
• Rate 2, commercial use (large surfaces, hotels, hourly parking, shopping centers): 1.00.
• Rate 3, industrial use (workshops, distribution centers): 0.65.
• Rate 4.a, driveways and loading/unloading with common use during working hours: 0.65.
• Rate 4.b, with common use only during nighttime hours: 0.85.
• Rate 4.c, without common use (private exploitation): 1.00.
• Rate 5, driveways or temporary occupations of the roadway (containers, fences, machinery): 0.65 × (number of days / 365).
• Rate 6, pharmacies: 0.75.

A specific regime for pharmacies

The ordinance introduces for the first time a specific fee for pharmacies (0.75), recognizing that their access is linked to the provision of an essential service, especially relevant during nighttime hours for on-call services, emergencies, and immediate healthcare. The text considers that this utilization, while relevant, does not reach the intensity of high-turnover commercial uses nor can it be equated to residential use.

Payment will be made via prior deposit for new authorizations and, in the case of extensions, through the collection of the annual register by the Tax and Collection Service. Unpaid debts will be demanded through the administrative enforcement procedure, and property owners act as taxpayer substitutes when the driveway provides access to their buildings.

Impact for the municipality

The conversion into a tax and the new fee scale directly affect homeowners, businesses, industries, and pharmacies in Pájara, who must adjust their settlements to the new regime. As it is a tax for the utilization of public domain, the City Council strengthens its collection and control capacity over public road reservations, with a weighting system intended to distribute the burden according to the actual intensity of each use.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Las Palmas, number 101, of August 24, 2026, III. Local Administration, page 14968 (official reference: 1755050, announcement 2.788, file OF-M 1/2025).