First unfavorable ruling against the green axes of Eixample promoted at the end of the previous municipal mandate by the government chaired by Ada Colau. The judge of the contentious administrative court number 5 of Barcelona has upheld the appeal filed by the Union of Tourist Commercial Hubs of Barcelona (Barcelona Oberta) against the agreement adopted by the government commission of Barcelona City Council on May 26, 2022 for the redevelopment of Consell de Cent street and has ruled on the revocation of said agreement. This decision, as stated in the ruling to which La Vanguardia has had access, “condemns the administration to return the actions to the state in which they were prior to their approval.”
The ruling opens a conflict that is difficult to resolve given that it comes at a time when the redevelopment works on Consell de Cent Street are practically finished, only lacking small touch-ups in some sections.
The judge has assessed the plaintiffs’ complaint in the sense that the aforementioned works in fact represent a modification of the provisions of the General Metropolitan Plan of Barcelona and that the legally established procedure for said modification has not been observed.
This circumstance, stated in the judge’s writing, “gives rise to the nullity of the contested act in accordance with article 47 of Law 39/2015, because the legally established procedure has been totally and absolutely dispensed with.”
The judge affirms that the previous reason alone would be sufficient to not enter into other considerations. However, she does it and somehow intensifies the blow to the agreement adopted on her day by the government commission. In this sense, she refers to the lack of a report or study on possible alternatives and other economic and social studies that she should take into account. She also censures the fragmentation of the work.
Given this judicial decision, Barcelona City Council can file an appeal within a period of 15 days, which will have to be resolved by the administrative litigation chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia.
