Sierra de Guadarrama becomes a new national park

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1. The law declares the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park and includes it in the Network of National Parks. Its conservation is considered a matter of general interest for the State.
2. The park covers 33,960 hectares: 21,714 in the Community of Madrid and 12,246 in Castilla y León. Neighboring land can be added by agreement of the Council of Ministers, always with the approval of both regions.
3. Uses inside the park are classified as compatible with conservation, necessary for management, or incompatible. Mining, dumping of waste, commercial logging, sport hunting and fishing, and new permanent buildings and infrastructure are banned.
4. Existing commercial forestry must be adapted within four years and then end. Legitimate rights limited by the law will be compensated.
5. A Peripheral Protection Zone is declared around the park, plus a socioeconomic influence area made up of the surrounding municipalities. Entities and residents of that area can receive grants and aid.
6. Day-to-day management belongs to Madrid and Castilla y León in their respective territories. The State coordinates actions through a Coordination Commission and, exceptionally, can take measures to guarantee the park's conservation.
7. Management is planned through a Use and Management Master Plan valid for ten years, prepared by both regions. A Board of Trustees is also created as a body for public participation.
8. Offenses are sanctioned under the Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Law. The law adds as very serious offenses the significant alteration of natural conditions, dumping of waste, and extraction of aggregates, and as serious or minor offenses other acts such as building without authorization or making noise that disturbs wildlife.

Who it affects

• Owners and holders of rights over land inside the park: They cannot log commercially, hunt or fish for sport, extract aggregates, dump waste, or build inside the park.
• Community of Madrid and Junta de Castilla y León: They handle day-to-day management and its costs in their territories, and must approve the Use and Management Master Plan within three years.
• Residents, businesses, and town councils of the municipalities around the park: They can benefit from grants, aid, and development measures for the socioeconomic influence area.
• Visitors and users of the park: They must respect the bans and can be fined; the law also lowers the minimum flight altitude to 500 meters for commercial or non-motorized aircraft.

Words worth knowing

Plan Rector de Uso y Gestión

Document that sets the rules, zones, and allowed activities inside the park. It is valid for ten years.

Zona Periférica de Protección

Peripheral Protection Zone: land around the park that receives extra protection to support its conservation.

Tanteo y retracto

Rights that allow public authorities to buy rural land in or next to the park on the same terms as the buyer, if the owner sells it.

Suelo no urbanizable de protección

Protected non-developable land: a land classification that prevents urban development and keeps the land in its natural state.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries