Villasabariego transfers the management of the Jazz Festival to Vega de los Árboles

The Plenary of the Villasabariego City Council unanimously approved to delegate the organization of the Vega de los Árboles Jazz and + Festival to the Vega de los Árboles Neighborhood Board, so that the hamlet may apply for grants from the Leonese Institute of Culture (ILC). The agreement was adopted in an ordinary session on September 24, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of León no. 199, of October 20, 2026, with the official reference BOP-LE-2026-199014.

A unanimous agreement of the Plenary

The municipal corporation resolved the transfer of management with the favorable vote of the 9 councilors present, in accordance with the provisions of articles 22.2.p) and 47.2.h) of Law 7/1985, of April 2, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime. The text also invokes article 25.2 of the same regulation, which attributes to municipalities the own competence in the “promotion of culture and cultural facilities,” and article 50 of Law 1/1998, of June 4, of the Local Regime of Castilla y León, which allows entities with a territorial scope smaller than the municipality to provide the services expressly delegated to them by the City Council, with the acceptance of the smaller local entity.

The agreement is signed by the mayor, Jorge Sánchez Cordero, and is published on page 92 of the provincial gazette, within the section of city council announcements.

Background of the transfer

The file is based on four documented facts:

• The Vega de los Árboles Neighborhood Board is the owner and historical organizer of the festival, a cultural event held annually in the town.
• The neighborhood board has applied for the grant call of the Leonese Institute of Culture “Organization of Festivals or Cultural Projects of Special Relevance 2026.”
• On May 6, 2026, both administrations signed an agreement by which the operational management of the event was already transferred to the neighborhood board.
• Pablo Martínez González, representing the neighborhood board, submitted a request with entry registration R.E. 1132, dated September 24, 2026, requesting the delegation of competence.

The City Council justifies the operation based on three reasons: channeling ILC resources intended for current expenses—of which the smaller local entities of the province can be beneficiaries—toward the municipality, ensuring the collaboration of the hamlet in an event that the Council “had not planned to undertake,” and promoting culture.

Distribution of powers and responsibilities

The delegation is specified in five powers:

• The organization of the event and the justification for the execution of the works.
• Exclusive financing by the minor local entity for the part not subsidized by the ILC; any municipal contribution must be formally requested.
• The assumption by the neighborhood board of any reimbursements or liabilities that may derive from deficient organization.
• The organization of the festival under its own and exclusive responsibility.
• Strict adherence to the rules and the call for applications of the Instituto Leonés de Cultura.

The Ayuntamiento de Villasabariego reserves three control mechanisms, exercised by the mayor: issuing instructions, gathering information, and formulating the relevant requirements.

Resolutory condition and deadlines

The agreement incorporates a resolutory condition: if the Instituto Leonés de Cultura does not grant the subsidy, the delegation will cease to take effect “automatically and without further formality” from the notification of the denial, which the neighborhood board must mandatorily communicate to the City Council. The certification of the agreement is transferred to the minor local entity for its acceptance within a maximum period of ten days.

Against the agreement, which ends the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the Plenary within one month from the day following publication, or an administrative-law appeal before the Juzgado de lo Contencioso-Administrativo de León within two months.

The decision directly affects the residents of Vega de los Árboles, who now assume the organization and economic risk of a consolidated cultural event, and conditions the continuity of the festival to the criteria of the Diputación de León through its culture department.

Source: Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de León, no. 199, October 20, 2026, city council announcements section, p. 92 (official reference: BOP-LE-2026-199014).