Villamoratiel approves rural road ordinance with fines of 3,000 euros

The City Council of Villamoratiel de las Matas has finalized the Ordinance regulating municipal rural roads, as no claims were submitted during the public exhibition period. The full text, consisting of 27 articles and one final provision, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of León no. 185, dated September 28, 2026, with the official reference BOP-LE-2026-185015. The regulation establishes the usage regime for the road network, obligations for owners of adjacent estates, and fines of up to 3,000 euros.

The ordinance is issued in exercise of the competence recognized in article 25.d) of Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, and is published in compliance with articles 49 and 70.2. The initial plenary agreement was automatically finalized as no allegations were registered, and the announcement appears signed by the mayor, Jesús Santamarta Alaez, in Villamoratiel de las Matas on September 17, 2026. The prior processing included public information and a hearing for interested parties for a period of thirty days, as well as consultation with representative organizations of the affected sectors.

A usage regime with agricultural priority

The regulation declares the roads as municipal public domain assets, inalienable, imprescriptible, and exempt from seizure, and defines the network as the set of public roads within the district, whether or not they have been subject to land consolidation. It distinguishes three levels of use:

• Proper uses: direct communication with bordering towns, access to estates, movement of agricultural vehicles and machinery, and livestock transit.
• Compatible uses: traditional uses that do not constitute occupation and respect the priority of proper uses.
• Exceptional uses: circulation of non-agricultural vehicles, transport of aggregates, tracked vehicles, chained or towed vehicles, which will require express authorization from the City Council and may require a bond or bank guarantee.

Temporary occupations or removable installations are also permitted for reasons of public interest and, in a reasoned and exceptional manner, for private interest, provided they do not alter normal transit.

Obligations for adjacent estates

The protection chapter sets specific duties for owners and possessors of bordering estates:

• Keep ditches, runoff channels, and waterways clean, free of plastics, soil, boxes, or leaves; if this is not done, the City Council may act at the owner’s expense.
• Maintain a minimum distance of one meter from the outer edge of the road during plowing activities, without exiting to turn around on the road.
• Request a municipal license for the fencing of estates and prior authorization for tree plantations located less than 5 meters from the road.
• Place irrigation at a minimum of one meter from the outer edge and, in the case of sprinkler irrigation, use a plate on each sprinkler or sectoral sprinklers.
• Construct entrances with pipes for the passage of water and soil: minimum width of 5 meters and a 40-centimeter pipe for accesses to a single estate, and 8 meters in width with a 40-centimeter pipe for entrances shared by two estates.

Grazing on the municipal rural roads themselves is prohibited.

Infractions and sanctions of up to 3,000 euros

Infractions are classified as very serious, serious, and minor. Very serious infractions include the alteration of landmarks and boundary markers, unauthorized buildings or works, the installation of obstacles—including the parking of trailers or agricultural vehicles once tasks are completed—, damage caused by non-agricultural vehicles, and the blocking of ditches. Serious infractions include unauthorized plowing or plantations, waste dumping, felling of trees on livestock routes, provisional works without authorization, obstruction of inspection work, watering the roads, and repeating two minor offenses within six months.

The sanction schedule is as follows:

• Minor infractions: fine of up to 750 euros.
• Serious infractions: from 750.01 to 1,500 euros.
• Very serious infractions: from 1,500.01 to 3,000 euros.

The procedure is governed by Royal Decree 1398/1993, of August 4, and the resolution corresponds to the mayor. Prescription periods are reduced to 6 months for minor offenses, one year for serious offenses, and two years for very serious offenses, both for infractions and sanctions. The offender must repair the damage caused, and the City Council may impose coercive fines of 20% per month, up to a maximum of five monthly payments.

Validity and appeals

The ordinance will enter into force once definitively approved, following the publication of the full text in the Official Gazette of the Province and on the notice board of the Town Hall, and after the period provided for in article 49.b) of Law 7/1985 has elapsed. An administrative-law appeal may be filed against the approval agreement before the Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León, based in Burgos, within a period of two months. Against the resolutions of the Mayor’s Office, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed within one month, or an administrative-law appeal before the Administrative Court of Valladolid.

The regulation directly affects the daily activities of the municipality’s farmers and livestock breeders, who from now on have clear rules regarding access, boundaries, and irrigation, but also a sanctioning regime that can reach 3,000 euros and the obligation to bear the cost of repairs. The City Council thus reinforces its powers of investigation, boundary demarcation, ex officio recovery, and administrative eviction over a network of roads that it considers key for communication between town centers and access to farms.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of León, no. 185, of September 28, 2026, section I, pp. 25-31 (official reference: BOP-LE-2026-185015).