Environmental groups and the left are taking the automatic reclassification of rural land to the Constitutional Court: "It's an unprecedented attack on the territory."

PalmSeveral social and environmental organizations, with the support of more than 50 members of Congress from the PSIB (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and Sumar-MÉS (Sumar-MÉS), have appealed to the Constitutional Court the Strategic Residential Projects Law, a regulation approved by the PP government that allows, among other things, the automatic reclassification of rural and protected land for the construction of housing. In the case of towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants, the law eliminates the obligation to exhaust urban and developable land, as established by current regulations. Thus, municipalities such as Palma, Calvià, Manacor, Marratxí, Llucmajor, Inca, Alcudia, Ibiza, Santa Eulalia del Río, San José de Sa Atalaya, Ciutadella, and Maó will be able to decide to apply this model and fill Transition Areas—rural land surrounding main urban centers—with buildings. This is the second appeal filed regarding regulations affecting the territory, after the urban planning amnesty for rural land had already been discussed and the Constitutional Court admitted it for processing in June 2025. It has not yet issued a ruling.

The new appeal argues that the law violates the principle of legal certainty and affects municipal and island autonomy, "given that it imposes mechanisms that blur the powers of local councils and councils in favor of external interventions and strategic projects decided at the regional level." It is also considered to contravene basic state legislation on urban planning, the environment, and the protection of rural land, establishing "positive silence" mechanisms and express regulations that can "disregard participation and environmental control processes." The appellants warn that the regulations diminish the protection of rural land and "convey a covert amnesty for activities and buildings that, under ordinary circumstances, would have been declared illegal."

Using the excuse of the housing shortage

The appeal's proponents warn that, under the umbrella of an urgent housing need, the law opens the door to massive speculative processes that could jeopardize the islands' natural and cultural heritage. According to Margalida Ramis, president of the GOB (National Government of Catalonia), this is an "unprecedented attack on the territory" because the law allows private developers to bypass general and municipal plans "with decrees that come into force without debate or citizen participation."

The law establishes that projects considered to be of general interest can automatically reclassify rural land, including urbanization, re-parcelling, and approval in a single process. This fast-track approach, according to the petitioners, represents a tacit repeal of all current urban planning regulations, with a direct impact on protected areas such as the Tramuntana Mountains and other high-value natural spaces. José María García, a deputy for Unides Podem, warned that the law amnesties existing buildings and prevents future governments from reverting to them, while Josep Maria Castells, of Més per Menorca, considered that the law sacrifices the general interest in favor of developers, ignoring political debate and public will.

According to opponents, the legal text not only facilitates speculation, but also reinforces a dense and unsustainable urban development model. Lluís Apesteguia, MÉS MP for Mallorca, asserted that the law "represents the worst urban planning of the Franco regime: high-density neighborhoods, without green spaces or infrastructure, where business interests are maximized and quality of life is reduced." Iago Negueruela, of the PSIB (Basque Socialist Workers' Party), denounced the fact that developers can act without respecting municipal general plans or guaranteeing public services or adequate mobility, allowing transitional zones and rural land to be transformed almost unlimitedly.

New attempt to eliminate the Catalan requirement in healthcare

The impact of the legislation is not only territorial. Toni Llabrés, president of the OCB (Central Chamber of Commerce), has warned that the law puts linguistic rights at risk, as it eliminates the requirement for Catalan for healthcare personnel, "with the risk of reversing established rights." The Government has already attempted to incorporate this measure in several previous legislative texts., and now he's insisting again. Josep Benedicto, president of the Civil Society Forum, has criticized the law as an "attack on heritage" that belongs to all citizens and not to the Government, with whom he has attempted to engage in dialogue and reach an agreement "without success." Mercedes Garrido, of the PSIB, has given the example of the green wedge in La Riera (Palma), where a developer could replace a green area with an apartment building, outside the City Council's control, modifying the landscape and violating legislation on rural land.

The entities that filed the appeal emphasize that they will continue to pursue all urban development projects, as they have appeared as interested parties, which requires the city councils to inform them. If necessary and feasible, administrative appeals will also be filed. The objective is to halt the application of the law, protect rural land, avoid amnesty for irregular housing, and defend heritage, as well as democratic and linguistic rights. According to Margalida Ramis, if the regulations remain in force, the Islands' urban development model could change irreversibly, exclusively favoring the interests of developers and compromising the environmental and social balance of the territory. The legal battle that has begun before the Constitutional Court reflects the deep division between the Government's desire to build housing and that of citizens and entities that defend a sustainable territorial model that respects the heritage and culture of the Balearic Islands.