Delegation of powers over the Goya Center of Zaragoza revoked

The Government of Aragon has revoked the delegation of powers entrusted in 2024 to the Department of Finance, Interior and Public Administration for the refurbishment of the former north parking lot of Expo 2008 and for the creation of the Goya Center in Zaragoza. The decision is formalized in Order HAP/1481/2026, dated October 1, published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 202, dated October 19, 2026, in section III of other provisions and agreements (csv BOA20261019021). Thus, the powers return to the Department of Presidency, Justice, Culture and Sport, which assumes them as its own.

The regulation that is now rendered ineffective is Order ECD/1331/2024, dated October 24, a joint order from the then Department of Education, Culture and Sport and the Department of Finance, Interior and Public Administration, published in the Official Gazette of Aragon number 216, dated November 6, 2024. That text delegated to the Minister of Finance the administrative, contractual, and asset-related actions necessary for both projects, including the expenditure proposals derived from them.

The regional Executive adopted the revocation agreement at its meeting on September 23, 2026, at the proposal of the heads of the two departments involved, and the order subsequently develops that agreement in four operational sections.

The two projects returning to the Presidency

The revocation affects two specific actions, both in Zaragoza:

• The refurbishment of the former north parking lot of Expo 2008 for its provisional use as a sports field, plots where a portable football stadium has been installed.
• The creation of the Goya Center and its location in the building previously occupied by the former courts in Zaragoza’s Plaza del Pilar.

The fourth section of the order specifies that the revocation implicitly entails the recovery of the exercise of the delegated powers in matters of culture and sport by the department to which they are attributed as its own. From the moment the regulation becomes effective, that department will assume any administrative, contractual, asset-related, and budgetary actions related to the Expo sports plots and the future exhibition center.

A change of departments as the origin

The text justifies the reversal based on the reorganization of the Government of Aragon. The Decree of May 3, 2026, by the President of the Government of Aragon, modified the structure of the regional Administration and created the Department of Presidency, Justice and Culture; its first final provision was later corrected by the Decree of June 2, 2026, which established the current name of the Department of Presidency, Justice, Culture and Sport.

According to Article 4 of the May decree, the new department is assigned the competencies that the previous Department of Education, Culture, and Sport held regarding culture, historical and cultural heritage, and sport. The order states that “the circumstances that motivated” the 2024 delegation “do not currently exist,” therefore the competent department chooses to revoke it and resume the exercise of its powers.

Legal Basis and Entry into Force

The order is based on Article 9 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector, and Law 5/2021, of June 29, on the Organization and Legal Regime of the Autonomous Public Sector of Aragon. From the latter, it cites Articles 10 and 11, regarding delegation between bodies, Article 13.2, which requires prior approval from the common superior body when the delegator and delegate are not hierarchically related, and Article 10.4, which declares the delegation “revocable at any time by the body that conferred it.”

The Department of Finance, Interior, and Public Administration limits itself to acknowledging and accepting the revocation. The effects take place from the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of Aragon, that is, from October 20, 2026.

The order was signed in Zaragoza on October 1, 2026, by:

• María del Mar Vaquero Perianez, Vice President and Councilor for Presidency, Justice, Culture, and Sport.
• Roberto Bermúdez de Castro Mur, Councilor for Finance, Interior, and Public Administration.

Impact for Readers

The change returns responsibility to a single department for two actions with a direct impact on the sporting and cultural facilities of Zaragoza: the provisional sports field built on the former Expo parking lot and the future Goya Center in Plaza del Pilar. As of October 20, any contract, expenditure, or asset action linked to both projects must be processed through the Department of Presidency, Justice, Culture, and Sport, which unifies the administrative and budgetary communication for these two works.

Source: Official Gazette of Aragon, number 202, of October 19, 2026, section III (Other Provisions and Agreements) (official reference: csv BOA20261019021).