If Xunta de Galicia manages to fulfill the Coastal Planning Law (Lolga), which is due to the fact that the Government does not resort to it when trying to assume the State-run powers of Galicia, it will be much easier to open a hotel or tourist apartment. It is a strip of shoreline 20 meters wide in urban centers and 100 meters wide in the rest of the region, called the coastal protection easement. With a simple statement of responsibility without the need for administrative permission, owners will be able to convert any existing residential building into tourist facilities – and legal – to the extent permitted by Galician law, it is not a change of use as interpreted by the central government, causing it to stop all such attempts, even going so far. to prosecute for trying to circumvent this veto.
“Actually, this is an innovation of Lolga” confirms this change in the Ministry of Environment criteria in article 56 of the future Galician standard, in which Xunta wishes to manage all economic and recreational activities carried out in both countries. sea-land public area, which is the area between the sea and the line at which a tide reaches its furthest, including sand dunes and sand dunes.
“Whether a building allocated to family housing has another type of housing use, in this case collective and touristic, has been discussed before, whether there is a change in use, but there was no uniform criterion. The point reached on this issue, even to the point where this issue was prosecuted.” previously disclosed the Ministry of Environment. restrictive criteria applied by the central government in these cases that prevent conversion of existing residential buildings tourist facilities.
legal uncertainty
“This was a situation that created a lot of legal uncertainty, and Xunta was clear that this does not imply a real change of use as these buildings are no longer used as personal and family residences to become public or collective housing. A change of use is not counted when residents cease to be permanent and become final or temporary.. Therefore, what has been done at Lolga is to provide legal criteria in this regard to clarify this issue and support legal certainty”, says Ángeles Vázquez department.
Section 5 of article 56 of the draft law contains the following provision: tourism businesses can be located in the conservation easement area, Provided that “previously residential buildings” and legal. “In these cases, a statement of responsible compliance with the conditions set out in this article must be submitted in accordance with the provisions of article 48 of this Law,” it states.
hotel network
This facility, which aims to transform residential buildings into hotels and apartments, goes hand in hand with the initiative also in Lolga. create a network of tourism businesses on the coastIt will have a strong point in the rehabilitation of disused or abandoned historic buildings – for hotel use – that are declared as BIC or cataloged with some form of preservation for their historical, cultural or architectural value. this tata 301 assets identified by Xunta and actionable in part, not in all, to give it a second life.
Salting factories, old schools, mills, canneries, monasteries… The state does not allow intervention because it thinks that there will be a change in use, which is prohibited by the Coastal Law and regulations.. Lolga therefore changes the criteria of the State to allow them to be reformed or rehabilitated in order to turn them into tourist facilities, museums or social or interpreter centers and thus stop their deterioration or destruction.
What Galician law protects is the prohibition of building new residential buildings. -whatever its special purpose- in the area of easement, as it is contained in the Coastal Law. “This is basic legislation that must be respected,” says the Department of the Environment.
Likewise, although work is permitted in existing buildings – a responsible declaration is sufficient without requiring a regional permit – these They do not imply an increase in height, area occupied or volume.
Without Shipyard
The coastal bill defines seven strategic uses of the coast: the marine-food industry chain, the sustainability of the fisheries, shellfish and aquaculture sector, port-city interaction activities and services, cultural heritage, coastal tourism, coastal roads and foundations. important public water treatment plants.
But no reference is made to shipyards or the Ence paper mill. The statement made by Xunta after the relevant consultation is that Lolga regulates the uses based on the exclusive powers of the autonomous community. “Therefore, the activities of the shipyards are not explicitly included. And for the same reason, other sectors, including paper mills, do not have a specific regime in the new law, ”says the Ministry of Environment.
The future of this law, however, is fraught with uncertainties, because the State categorically refused to transfer the powers to govern the coast to Galicia and claimed that the Autonomy Statute had to be reformed first in order to adapt to these new powers. Since the central government has not changed its position and Xunta understands that the transfer is possible without touching the Statutes, he now encourages this law, which could well be appealed by the central government to the Constitutional Court and nullified it. However, this will happen after the Galician Parliament definitively approves Lolga, and it is estimated that Lolga will be approved this year.