Sant Josep has returned to its 1986 subsidiary planning rules after the municipality's temporary planning regulations expired without receiving definitive approval.

The expiry leaves the municipality without the temporary urban-planning framework that had been intended to provide updated rules while a new General Urban Development Plan, or PGOU, is prepared.

The change has already become a political issue, with the municipal opposition criticising the handling of the planning process and the government defending its position over the transition to a new planning framework.

What has changed?

The Normas Provisionales de Planeamiento were introduced as an interim planning framework for Sant Josep while longer-term planning was being developed.

That framework has now expired because definitive approval was not completed within the applicable period.

As a result, the municipality has returned to the planning rules contained in its Normas Subsidiarias from 1986.

This does not mean that Sant Josep has adopted a new urban plan. It means that the previous planning framework has again become applicable while the municipality works towards a new PGOU.

Why were the temporary rules important?

The temporary planning regulations were designed to provide updated planning tools during the transition towards a comprehensive new plan.

According to the political debate surrounding their expiry, the rules included measures affecting areas such as protected housing, vacant or underdeveloped urban land and restrictions on tourist rentals in certain multi-family buildings.

With the temporary rules no longer in force, those provisions cannot simply continue to be applied as part of the expired framework.

The exact planning consequences for individual plots and projects will depend on the provisions of the 1986 rules and other applicable legislation.

A process that began in 2022

The current planning process has its origins in a request for provisional planning regulations approved in 2022.

The PSOE has highlighted that the initial request was approved during the previous municipal administration and argues that there was broad institutional and social agreement at that stage.

The subsequent process became more complicated after the municipal government decided to work simultaneously on the provisional regulations and a new PGOU.

The opposition has criticised that approach, arguing that it contributed to the eventual expiry of the temporary framework. Those are political assessments by the PSOE and are not presented here as established findings.

PSOE criticises the return to the old framework

The Sant Josep Socialist group has strongly criticised the expiry.

PSOE spokesperson Vicent Roselló described the situation as a return to the urban-planning framework of 1986 and argued that the municipality had lost an opportunity to introduce greater planning certainty and updated controls.

The PSOE has specifically pointed to the loss of planning provisions relating to protected housing and restrictions on tourist rentals in multi-family buildings.

The party has also criticised Mayor Vicent Roig's management of the process and attributed responsibility for the situation to the current municipal government. These statements represent the opposition's political position.

Mayor avoids assigning responsibility

The issue was also raised during the Sant Josep municipal plenary session on September 24.

When asked who should assume political responsibility for the expiry of the temporary planning rules, Mayor Vicent Roig did not identify a specific individual as responsible.

Roig said that each person would have to assume whatever responsibility corresponded to them, according to reports from the session.

The new PGOU remains the longer-term objective

Sant Josep is working towards a new General Urban Development Plan, which is intended to provide the municipality with a comprehensive and updated planning framework.

However, the available information does not establish a definitive completion date for that PGOU.

It would therefore be premature to state that the new plan will take a particular number of years to complete.

Until the new planning framework is approved and enters into force, planning decisions will continue to be governed by the rules currently applicable to the municipality, including the reactivated 1986 subsidiary planning framework and other relevant legislation.

What the expiry means for Sant Josep

The immediate effect is clear: the temporary planning framework has expired and the 1986 Normas Subsidiarias are once again in force.

The longer-term implications will depend on how the municipality progresses with its new PGOU and how individual planning applications are assessed under the rules now applicable.

For residents, property owners, developers and businesses, the change creates a significant transition in Sant Josep's planning framework, while the political debate over how the municipality reached this point is continuing.