On 25 June 2025, the citizen platform StopAgroparc, through the Association Naturalists of Gelida, represented by lawyer Elena Moreno Nogué, and with the support of Unió de Pagesos and the Ecologist Collective Bosc Verd, has submitted a contentious-administrative appeal before the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. The lawsuit challenges the final approval of the Specific Modification of the Municipal Urban Planning Plan (MPOUM) for the implementation of the AGROPARC project by Ametller Origen in Gelida, agreed by the Territorial Commission of Urbanism of Penedès on 12 June 2023.
Yesterday, 8 July, a summary of the lawsuit was presented at a press conference in Barcelona, at the Journalists' Association [press release].
SUMMARY OF THE LAWSUIT:
The lawsuit is based on the following main points:
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Imminent threat to the Bonelli's Eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus), a species at risk of extinction: The area of the Agroparc is completely included within a Faunal Interest Area, and is hunting and resting territory for a pair of Bonelli's Eagles, catalogued as "Endangered" in Catalonia and protected by European and national directives. Previous reports from the Service of Fauna and Flora (SFF) from 2017 and 2022 concluded that the project was incompatible with their survival, describing it as a "death sentence". However, a subsequent report from the SFF (22/03/2023) softened the conditions without the endorsement of any technician, basing the viability on a Pilot Plan of compensatory measures. Days before the final approval, the Director General of Environmental Policies issued a note of "clarifications" at the request of the promoter which subjectively reinterprets the Strategic Environmental Declaration (DAE), allowing the start of earthworks and construction without waiting for the verification of the success of the compensatory measures. The project plans for an excavation of 724,482.88 m³ (equivalent to 290 Olympic swimming pools) in the "core area" or K50% of the eagles, which is the essential part of their habitat. Independent experts warn that the works without prior relocation could lead to their "disappearance" and, consequently, the commission of an environmental crime (article 334 of the penal code). The Association has requested the immediate suspension of the effects of the final approval Agreement of the MPOUM, prioritising environmental preservation.
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Water management: an unsustainable and unjustified impact: The expert report denounces an unjustified increase in the water allocation for industrial use, multiplying by four the forecast of the POUM 2015 (increasing from 35,256m³/year to 150,000m³/year). This is "unsustainable" in a context of climate crisis and represents a increase of 22.5% in water consumption per capita in Gelida (from 231.87 to 283.6 litres/day). The "insufficient justification" for the availability of water for the technical greenhouses is questioned, as their management diagram is "unrealistic, imprecise and unfeasible", and will imply a water consumption comparable to 45% of the water expenditure for economic activities across the municipality. There is "inconsistency in the estimates" of the overall water needs of the project, which do not consider all the planned activities.
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Other serious urban and environmental irregularities:
- Urban and environmental fragmentation:The project affects two municipalities (220 ha), but the challenged MPOUM only covers Gelida (94 ha). This fragmentation ignores the urban planning regulations that require supramunicipal planning and a global environmental assessment.
- Lack of justification for territorial interest: The project is based on promises (1,000 jobs, 50,000 visitors) without studies to support them. A study from the Pompeu Fabra University contradicts job creation, as the project is based on automation and will eliminate jobs.
- Illegal reclassification and excessive occupation: The MPOUM illegally reclassifies non-urbanisable land of special protection (Key 11a and 11b) to industrial developable land (Key 7g) and tertiary (Key 8d), and creates the new key 11h ("agricultural land greenhouses"). This transformation is incompatible with the condition of specially protected land. The occupancy in plot Key 7g (75.56%) exceeds the 50% allowed. It is anticipated 7.5 hectares of technologically advanced greenhouses up to 9 metres high on protected non-developable land, with a 46% excess occupancy and irreversibly transforming the land with fixed civil works.
- Impacts on landscape and connectivity: The project will generate a "serious, visible, evident and irreversible impact" on the landscape from Gelida. Furthermore, it will cause the scission and fragmentation of essential ecological connectors, despite the fact that the area is a strategic point for species flow (PEIN, local, fluvial). The implementation of large infrastructures will prevent the passage of wildlife, generating a "very negative impact" and violating the regulations that require the preservation of these connectors.
- Mobility and road infrastructures: The MPOUM ignores what is planned in the POUM 2015, which prioritised the construction of a new bridge over the Anoia and a variant of the BV-2249 that avoided passing through Cases Noves, essential for acceptable access to the AP7 from Can Juncoses. This modification does not specify the management or funding of these actions. It is anticipated that the BV-2249 will double its traffic intensity, and already presents width problems and restrictions for heavy vehicles. The EAMG of the MPOUM undervalues the calculations of the new mobility generated, which will result in deficits in the road network.
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Abuse of power: The demand concludes that in the drafting and processing of the MPOUM there have been "clear motivations unrelated to the general interest", which only benefit the interests of the promoter of the Agroparc. It is alleged that the Department of Territory and, especially, the Directorate General of Environmental Policies and Natural Environment, have acted with "manifest abuse of power", exercising administrative powers for purposes different from those established by the legal system.
The Naturalists Association of Gelida urges the Court to declare the MPOUM null and void and to annul it for being non-compliant with the law.