Tormellas approves the ordinance requiring the cleaning of vacant lots and land

The Tormellas City Council has definitively approved the Regulatory Ordinance for the Cleaning of Land and Plots in Urban, Developable, and Rural Soil, following the agreement adopted by the Plenary in the session held on July 9, 2026, and once the public exhibition period has elapsed without any claims being filed. The full text is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Ávila, number 172, of September 7, 2026 (number 1756/26), and will enter into force the day after its publication.

The regulation, signed by Mayor Abel Familiar Sánchez on August 28, 2026, is based on the municipal competence in matters of health and urban planning recognized by Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, as well as Law 5/1999, of April 8, on Urban Planning of Castilla y León and the consolidated text of the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law. The City Council justifies the measure based on the situation of the province following the waves of forest fires in recent years and Decree Law 2/2025, of October 23, on urgent measures against the risk of forest fires, which empowers city councils to enter private estates in case of danger.

Obligations of owners

The ordinance obliges the holders of parcels, plots, and vacant building lands within the municipal district to keep them clean and cleared with the necessary frequency, removing weeds, brush, and flammable materials, as well as removing accumulated waste to prevent epidemic or unhealthy outbreaks. This obligation is enforceable permanently in urban and developable soil, and the remaining soils must be cleared before June 1 of each year.

• Unless proven otherwise, the owner shall be considered to be whoever appears in public registries with a presumption of ownership, in tax registries such as the Cadastre, or whoever is publicly and notoriously known as such.
• In rural soil dedicated to agricultural or livestock activity, clearing shall be adapted to the cycles of cultivation, fallow, and grazing, although the collection of waste shall be enforceable at all times.
• Intervention in forests, or in the 400-meter strip surrounding them, must comply with sectoral regulations and the precautions of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, especially during periods of high fire risk.

Subsidiary execution and sanctions

In the event of non-compliance, the City Council may issue execution orders and, if these are not followed, proceed to subsidiary execution at the expense of the obligated party, charging them for all costs, damages, and losses, with the possibility of demanding payment through enforcement proceedings. In case of imminent danger, the administration is authorized to access lands without closed constructions.

The failure to fulfill the cleaning duty is classified as a minor infringement, punishable by fines ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 euros, graded in accordance with Law 5/1999 and, supplementarily, Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector. The procedure will be processed via a simplified route, and the authority to initiate and resolve the proceedings lies with the mayor or the councilor to whom it is delegated.

• The minor infringement prescribes after four years; the sanction, one year from the date it becomes final.
• The deadline to resolve the sanctioning procedure is six months, extendable by another three.
• A 50% reduction of the sanction is applied if the offender acknowledges their responsibility and pays voluntarily before the resolution.

Relevance for the municipality

The ordinance makes the care of land throughout the entire municipal district a permanent obligation, with an effective administrative intervention mechanism that seeks to reduce the risk of ignition and the spread of fires before the summer season. Against the final agreement, interested parties may file a contentious-administrative appeal before the corresponding Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León within two months of publication.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Ávila, no. 172, of September 7, 2026, Local Administration (number 1756/26).