Vigo approves the new urban planning license ordinance following objections from architects

The Plenary of the City Council of Vigo, in an ordinary session on July 27, 2026, definitively approved the new wording of the Municipal Ordinance regulating the processing of urban planning licenses and other forms of administrative intervention, which affects all works, construction, and installations in the city. The agreement, which fully accepts the allegations presented by the presidency of the Vigo Delegation of the Official College of Architects of Galicia, was published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Pontevedra (BOPPO) no. 172, of September 8, 2026, under file 1107/400 (Plenary File 5540/1101).

The regulation replaces the ordinance approved by the Plenary on 10/28/2013 and published in the BOP no. 235, of 12/09/2013, which was modified on successive occasions between 2014 and 2024. The new wording responds to the mandate of Decree 144/2016, of September 22, which approves the single regulation for the integrated regulation of economic activities and the opening of establishments (RIAE), and adapts the text to the modifications of the Galician Land Law 2/2016 and Royal Decree-Law 20/2021 regarding electric mobility and charging points.

Object and scope of application

The ordinance regulates the intervention and control procedures of the City Council of Vigo over works and activities that, due to their nature and impact on the urban or environmental surroundings, are subject to a regime of license, prior communication, or responsible declaration. Terraces on public land, street vending, and other occupations of the municipal public domain subject to their own ordinances are excluded from its scope.

Means of intervention and procedures

The City Council may intervene in urban activity through several means:

• Ordinances and proclamations.
• Submission to a prior license and other preventive control acts.
• Submission to prior communication or responsible declaration.
• Control subsequent to the start of the activity and acts of transformation, construction, and building.
• Individual orders constituting a mandate or prohibition.

Intervention shall adhere to the principles of equal treatment, necessity, and proportionality. In general, the exercise of activities shall not be subject to a license or other preventive control, except for the exceptions provided for in sectoral legislation.

Subsequent control and responsibilities

The regulation establishes a regime of subsequent control, with favorable, unfavorable, or conditional reports, and provides for a declaration of inefficiency when non-compliance is detected, with a hearing process of 10 days. The technical personnel signing the documentation, the project management, and the owners and promoters assume responsibility for the quality, conformity, and veracity of the documentation and the works executed.

Entry into force and appeals

The ordinance shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the BOP, provided that the period provided for in article 65.2 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the bases of the local regime, has elapsed. An administrative appeal may be filed against the final approval agreement, which ends the administrative route, before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Galicia within a period of two months. The regulation repeals the 2013 ordinance and any provisions of equal or lower rank that oppose it.

The new regulation simplifies and streamlines the administrative processing of works and activities in Vigo, consolidating prior notification as the general regime and reserving licenses for the cases required by legislation. For residents, developers, and sector professionals, the regulation clarifies deadlines, documentation, and responsibilities, and facilitates the implementation of economic activities and infrastructures such as electric vehicle charging points.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Pontevedra (BOPPO), no. 172, September 8, 2026, Local Administration section (official reference: file 1107/400, Plenary File 5540/1101).