Overview

• On June 5 the Constitutional Court admitted for processing an appeal brought by over 50 deputies from PSOE, Compromís, Podemos and Sumar against the February decree-law changing l’Horta protections.
• The contested reform allows urbanization of roughly 3,800 hectares of grade 3 agricultural land and abolishes the ‘Consell de l’Horta’ oversight body.
• Opponents assert the decree-law violated constitutional environmental rights by avoiding parliamentary debate, impact studies and the urgency conditions required for decree-laws.
• The Valencian government argues the changes were needed to address administrative gaps and cost inefficiencies highlighted by the October 2024 floods and to streamline land-use planning.
• L’Horta of Valencia is recognized by FAO and UNESCO as a vital Mediterranean agro-ecosystem and natural flood buffer that mitigated the impact of the October storms.