Is landscape study in Spain a headache?

In the European Landscape Convention landscape is defined as any part of the territory as perceived by the members of the population. This perception is the result of the interaction between the natural and/or human factors of the environment and is not understood only as a landscape perceived visually, but as that perceived by all the senses. The purpose of this Convention is to promote the protection, management and planning of landscapes, as well as to organize cooperation in this field between EU countries. Let's see how the study of landscapes is managed in Spain.

In Spain, landscape protection is included in the Spanish Environmental Assessment Act: (Law 21/2013, on Environmental Assessment) which establishes procedures for evaluating the environmental impact of projects that may affect the landscape and the environment in general.

One Community, One Law

The problem comes when landscape legislation in Spain varies from one autonomous community to another, since competencies in this area are decentralized and each autonomous community may have its own regulations and policies related to the protection and management of the landscape.

One of the pioneering communities in legislating on landscape matters was the Valencian Community. La Law 4/2004 on Spatial Planning and Protection of the Landscape of the Valencian Community establishes the basis for the management and protection of the landscape in this region. Subsequently, this law has been updated by the Law 5/2014, of July 25, on Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Landscape, of the Valencian Community, establishing in the annexes to this law the content of landscape studies and landscape integration, as well as by Legislative Decree 1/2021, of June 18, of the Council approving the consolidated text of the Law on Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Landscape. A point of interest in the legislation of this community is the requirement of a process of public participation in the various studies related to this subject, a process that in Ideas We have been doing environmental work for years.

Another community that has legislated on landscape matters is Galicia. La Law 9/2002 on Urban Planning and Protection of the Rural Environment of Galicia includes regulations on the landscape and its preservation, although the first specific law in this regard is Law 7/2008 of July 7 on the Protection of the Landscape of Galicia. This law legally recognizes the landscape and establishes a frame of reference for all legislation, plans and sectoral programs that may affect the landscape. It also includes catalogues of the landscape of Galicia, to which it attributes the functions of delimiting the large landscape spaces of Galicia and identifying the types of landscapes existing in each of them, as well as their differential characteristics. This law is approved by Decree 96/2020 of May 29. Finally, in February 2021, Decree 238/2020, of December 29, was published, approving the landscape guidelines of Galicia, which includes both the quality objectives for each of the landscape units, as well as the mentioned guidelines.

In the Basque Country there is also specific legislation on landscape matters. The main legislation would be Decree 90/2014, of 3 June, on protection, management and planning of the landscape in the planning of the territory of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. Depending on this legislation In projects subject to Environmental Impact Assessment in accordance with Law 21/2013, of December 9, on Environmental Assessment, the promoting entities must carry out a Landscape Integration Study linked to the extent appropriate to the Environmental Impact Study.

Also contained references to the landscape are Law 4/1990, of May 31, on the Planning of the Territory of the Basque Country and the Territorial Planning Guidelines of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, approved by Decree 28/1997, of February 11

In Catalunya, the landscape has been legislated in a specific way by the Law 8/2005, of June 8, on Landscape Protection, Management and Planning, developed in turn by the Decree 343/2006, of September 19.

The purpose of this law is the recognition, protection, management and planning of the landscape, with the purpose of preserving its natural, patrimonial, cultural, social and economic values, within a framework of sustainable development. At a practical level, the tools for managing and protecting the landscape would be the Landscape Catalogs and the Landscape Guidelines. It also establishes the Landscape Observatory, which is an independent entity that provides support and collaboration to the Generalitat in the field of landscape, preparing a report on the state of the landscape, every 4 years.

In Cantabria, there is also specific legislation in this area, the Law 4/2014, of December 22, on Landscape. Guidelines and Landscape Studies are established as instruments of regulation in this law, with the rank of Decree.

In addition, based on this law, a Catalogue of Relevant Landscapes will be prepared, which will necessarily include landscapes recognized by their sectoral regulations, specifically the protected landscapes recognized in the Cantabrian Law 4/2006, of May 19, on the Conservation of the Nature of Cantabria and the Cultural Landscapes recognized in Law 11/1998, of October 13, on Cultural Heritage of Cantabria.

In Castile-La Mancha, although there is currently no specific legislation, if a Preliminary Draft Law on the Protection, Management, Management and Promotion of the Landscape is being carried out, whose main objectives are the legal recognition of the landscape, the definition and application of policies for the protection, management and planning of the landscape or the identification and qualification of the landscapes themselves throughout the regional territory. In this regard, in 2012, the Castilla-La Mancha Landscape Atlas was published by the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Housing.

In other communities, although it does not show such specific legislation, there is regulation in the matter, generally within the framework of Spatial Planning legislation, and in some cases landscape studies may be mandatory. In some cases, they also present reference tools or documents (landscape strategies, landscape maps, landscape observatories).

Thus, for example, in Andalusia, the Andalusian Territorial Planning Plan establishes in its determinations the elaboration of a Coordinated Landscape Program. Its treatment is especially intense in the Strategies for the Regional Land Protection System, which include determinations in a double aspect: the management of landscapes and the promotion of the landscape. The landscape is also addressed in the determinations on the System of Cities and the Systems of Territorial Articulation, as well as in the section on Zoning. Subsequently, the Andalusian Landscape Strategy was established, whose goals are to integrate the landscape into all the policies of the Junta de Andalucía and the formation of a pact for the landscape in Andalusia, in which other public administrations, economic and social agents and citizens participate.

In the Community of Murcia, is the Law 13/2015, of March 30, on land and urban planning of the Region of Murcia, where landscape management in this community is included. Thus, in TITLE IV, we find the territorial strategies and landscape agenda, in which the catalogs of the landscape and the landscape strategy are collected. On the other hand, in articles 45 to 47, where the minimum contents that a landscape study must contain are fixed. These will be mandatory, depending on what is defined in Article 95. Regime of building and uses on undeveloped land protected by planning or unsuitable for urban development and other articles related to urban planning.

A similar case is that of Extremadura, including the regulation on landscape issues in the Decree 143/2021, of 21 December, which approves the General Regulations of the Law on Territorial and Sustainable Urban Planning of Extremadura. This law establishes the need for a landscape integration study between the documentation necessary for the processing of the rustic qualification.

In Aragon, landscape legislation is found in the Legislative Decree 2/2015, of November 17, of the Government of Aragon, which approves the consolidated text of the Aragon Spatial Planning Act, specifically in TITLE VI of Instruments for the protection, management and planning of the landscape. This Decree establishes Landscape Maps, which are descriptive, analytical and prospective documents that identify the landscapes of the different areas of the Aragonese territory, analyze their characteristics and the forces and pressures that transform them, identify their values and state of conservation, and propose the landscape quality objectives that they must meet.

In Canaries, does not have a specific document where legislation has been legislated on landscape, so the landscape strategy is reflected in other laws such as The Law 4/2017, of Soil and Natural Spaces or the Guidelines for General Planning and Tourism Management. It also has other interesting landscape management tools such as the Special Plans for Protected Landscapes (PEPP), the Canary Islands Landscape Maps or the Landscape Observatory.

In Navarre, landscape regulation is especially included in the Regional Legislative Decree 1/2017, of July 26, which approved the consolidated text of the Provincial Law on Spatial Planning and Urbanism, and more specifically in the development of the Territorial Planning Plans of Navarra of 2011 (POT). The POTs established the basis for the development of landscape policy from a territorial planning approach, guiding how to preserve and enhance the most relevant values of the territory, and how to correct or mitigate the environmental impacts derived from an inadequate use of its resources.

Based on the POT, Landscape Documents are prepared for each of the five POT areas. They are descriptive and prospective technical works that generate knowledge in the field of landscape. Other management tools would be protected landscapes and cultural landscapes.

Finally, we found another series of Communities where no specific legislation on the subject is located, and other sectoral laws have been legislated in a more tangential way, mainly related to the conservation of nature or heritage.

This would be the case, for example, of Castile and León. Thus, in the Law 4/2015, of 24 March, on the Natural Heritage of Castile and León, a complete reference title to the landscape (Title II, arts 15-19) is collected, in a specific way, and in a more general way throughout the law. We also find references to the landscape in the legislation on cultural heritage (Law 12/2002 on Cultural Heritage of Castile and León), in that on territorial planning (Law 3/2008, of 17 June, approving the essential guidelines for the planning of the territory of Castile and León) or urban planning (Law 5/1999, on Urbanism of Castile and León).

Also in Asturias, legislation on landscape matters appears sectorally in laws such as the Law 5/1991, of April 5, of Protection of Natural Spaces, the Decree 38/1994, of May 19, approving the Plan for the Management of Natural Resources of the Principality of Asturias or the Law 1/2001, of March 6, of Cultural Heritage. As for landscape management instruments, we find the specific protection figure of Protected Landscape, in addition to other instruments, such as Special Territorial Plans and Special Plans, coming from the field of land use, in which the protection of the landscape plays an important role.

In La Rioja, although it does not yet have specific legislation on landscape, if it is included in various regulations and instruments. The landscape is contemplated in the Law 5/2006, of May 2, on Spatial Planning and Urbanism of La Rioja (LOTUR, 2006), as well as in the Special Plan for the Protection of the Natural Environment of La Rioja (PEPMAN, 1988) and in urban planning. In addition, we found the La Rioja Landscape Strategy, from 2023. It is a document that seeks to bring together the set of guidelines and guidelines aimed at protecting, improving and projecting the Riojan landscape as an expression of nature, history and human activity.

In Balearic We did not find specific legislation either, finding legislation related mainly to urban planning (in the Law 12/2017, of December 29, on urban planning in the Balearic Islands). There is also the Landscape Strategy of the Consell de Mallorca.

Finally, in the Community of Madrid, there is no specific legislation either, with some references found in some sectoral regulations, such as legislation on cultural heritage (Law 3/2013, of 18 June, on the Historical Heritage of the Community of Madrid) or urban planning regulations.

Landscape protection and management is an important issue in Spain, since the country has a great diversity of landscapes and natural environments that must be properly preserved and managed.

At Ideas Ambiental we have a large multidisciplinary team, with significant experience, among other variables, in landscape issues.

Alejandro Redondo, Environmental Assessment