The legal protection of the most sensitive ecosystem in southern Gran Canaria is undergoing a crucial technical reform to consolidate its legal certainty. The Gran Canaria Island Council will initiate the process of drafting and processing the Natural Resources Management Plan (PORN) for the Maspalomas Dunes Special Nature Reserve. This institutional initiative responds to the urgent need to establish a regulatory framework adapted to the established doctrine of the Supreme Court, so that the reclassification of the area, originally introduced by regional legislation in 1994, can be fully implemented.
The resolution designates the island council as the body responsible for promoting environmental guidelines through its Department of Territorial Policy and Landscape. The technical timeline developed by the Planning Service anticipates a processing timeframe of approximately 17 months. During this period, the document must undergo critical phases, ranging from the initial analysis and diagnosis of the territorial area to the drafting of preliminary proposals, their public consultation, and the final text. The technical management of the work will be the direct responsibility of the public employees within the island's relevant sector.
The Cabildo's administrative action automatically activates a stringent set of precautionary protection measures for the land within the nature reserve, based on both Canarian legislation and the Spanish Law on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity. Under this legal framework, any action that significantly alters the physical, geological, or biological characteristics of the dune area and could compromise the plan's conservation objectives is prohibited. Any attempt to intervene within the designated area will require a mandatory favorable report from the Gran Canaria Environmental Authority, which will have a maximum of ninety days to issue it.
The signature of the Island Councillor for Territorial Policy and Landscape, Inés Miranda Navarro, officially opens the process for citizen participation and institutional consultations. From the day after this publication, interested organizations and private citizens have one month to register their opinions and technical suggestions through the websites provided by the administration. As this is a procedural step intended to ensure the sustainability and management of the natural resources of the tourist area, the agreement is not subject to challenge through ordinary administrative appeals, thus protecting the start of the process from immediate obstruction.
