Justice orders Castilla y León to begin the dismantling of the Navacerrada ski resort

The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL) has ordered the Board to begin the dismantling of the Navacerrada ski resort (Segovia). The judicial fight began when the Government, through the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, urged the closure of the facilities due to the reduction in snow in these mountains due to the climate crisis. The regional Executive has announced that it will consider appealing the court ruling, which urges it to “declare the expiration” of the concession over these lands on the border of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park.

The judicial resolution has forced the Board, led by PP and Vox in coalition, to “pronounce” on the declaration of expiration of the station's management. The Autonomous Organization of National Parks (OAPN), dependent on the ministry, established in 2021 that the concession, which expired that same year after completing the 25-year license, would not be put out to tender again for environmental reasons. The president of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP), confronted the Government by rejecting this ruling and had the support of his Madrid counterpart, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. According to Mañueco, there were “no political or legal reasons to declare the closure” and in his opinion there was no “inconvenience” that justified the closure of this space.

Restoration of altered physical reality

In October 2021, the ministry issued a requirement for this autonomous community, which does not have powers over the opening or not of these ski resorts, to exercise its capabilities so that the winning company dismantle the facilities, buildings or cables. Furthermore, at the end of 2021 he took the Board to court to resolve this issue, which has finally been resolved in favor of the ministry led by Teresa Ribera. The ruling of the TSJCyL also orders to begin the “removal of the facilities and restoration of the altered physical reality.”

The facilities had remained operational and with visitors in recent months, almost three years after the original 25-year permit expired, because the government of Castilla y León had declared itself “independent” on the issue of the expiration of national permits. . The affected slopes, called El Telégrafo, El Bosque and El Escaparate, had continued to welcome skiers in the winter months. In the absence of confirming the next movement of the Junta de Castilla y León after the ruling that is detrimental to its interests, since it can appeal, the judicial resolution calls on the regional command to confirm the end of the concession of the winter season.

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