Valencia de Don Juan approves the new regulations for its municipal cemetery

The City Council of Valencia de Don Juan has definitively approved the modification of the Municipal Cemetery Operating Regulations, the full text of which is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of León number 167, dated September 2, 2026. The regulation, which affects all residents of the municipality, regulates funeral concessions, the transfer of rights, and service fees.

The agreement was adopted by the Plenary in an extraordinary session held on June 16, 2026, with initial approval and definitive status provided no claims were filed during the public information process. As no allegations were presented, the agreement was automatically elevated to definitive status, in compliance with article 70.2 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime. The announcement bears the official reference BOP-LE-2026-167003 and corresponds to electronic file 1248/2025.

Funeral concessions of up to 50 years

The new regulation establishes that the funeral right shall be granted for a maximum term of fifty years. Upon expiration, the holder may request an extension up to the maximum term determined by current regulations, having three months from the notification of expiration to request it.

• The concession is equivalent to the title of funeral right and is entered into the cemetery’s registration book.
• The occupation of a burial unit does not, in itself, constitute a right.
• Graves are considered assets outside of commerce: they cannot be subject to purchase, sale, or exchange.
• Successive burials in the same grave do not alter the term of the concession.

Transfer of funeral rights

The regulation governs the transfer of funeral rights both by inter vivos acts and mortis causa, always requiring communication and authorization from the City Council for registration in the registry.

• Inter vivos transfer can only be carried out in favor of direct ascendants or descendants.
• In the case of joint ownership between spouses, the death of one attributes the full right to the surviving spouse.
• When there are several heirs, a single holder must be designated for administrative purposes.
• In the event of separation, divorce, or change in the matrimonial economic regime, the holder must notify the City Council within a non-extendable period of two months.

Burial regime and fees

The regulation details the requirements for burials, exhumations, and transfers, referring to Decree 21/2025, of December 18, of the Junta de Castilla y León, which regulates mortuary sanitary police. Burial may not take place before twenty-four hours from the time of death nor after forty-eight hours, except for specific exceptions. The reduction of remains requires at least ten years to have passed since burial, and transfers require sanitary authorization.

Fees shall be governed by the tariff regime of the fiscal ordinance regulating service fees. The regulation also provides for graves for persons without economic means, processed through municipal Social Services, whose remains may be transferred to a common grave after five years.

The regulation will enter into force once published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of León and fifteen days after said publication. An administrative appeal may be filed against the agreement before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León within a period of two months. The regulation, signed by Mayor José Jiménez Martínez on August 25, 2026, updates an essential service for the residents of the municipality and guarantees the legal certainty of funeral concessions.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of León, no. 167, September 2, 2026, Local Administration, page 6 (official reference: BOP-LE-2026-167003).