Setback for the High Court of Justice in Barcelona City Council: it upholds the ruling against the superblock.

BarcelonaThe High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has taken the floor in the long-running judicial debate on the legality or illegality of the green axis of Consell de Cent. The range of resolutions The appeals of first-instance courts for and against the superblock had led to another round of appeals that the High Court of Justice (TSJC) was now set to decide. This Tuesday, the court made public its first ruling. A judgment that, in this case, dismisses the appeal filed by the City Council and rules in favor of Barcelona Oberta. It does, however, register a dissenting opinion.

The High Court of Justice's decision responds to the first ruling against the Consell de Cent superblock, which came in September 2023. At that time, the head of Barcelona's administrative court number 5 annulled the municipal government's agreement on the green axis of Consell de Cent, specifically with regard to the section between the Granados. She did so, arguing that the City Council should have modified the General Metropolitan Plan (PGM).

Now the High Court of Justice (TSJC) aligns itself with that ruling. The ruling, advanced by The Vanguard The ruling, which ARA has already had access to, considers that in order to move forward with a green axis like the one in Consell de Cent, it was necessary to modify the PGM (General Plan of Planning). Four of the five judges who reviewed the ruling point out that it is "clear" that "the functionality of the road has changed and it has essentially lost its connecting and linking function," and therefore conclude that the City Council did not follow the appropriate legal procedure. Municipal sources have already announced that they will appeal to the Supreme Court.

However, the court ruling is not unanimous. One of the judges has signed a 44-page dissenting opinion (the ruling is 11 pages long) in which she defends Barcelona City Council's ability to move forward with the green axis in Consell de Cent without first needing to modify the PGM (General Plan of Planning). Specifically, the judge maintains that the function of "linking the basic routes" cannot be interpreted as an obligation to be able to reach Avinguda Meridiana from any point in Consell de Cent without changing streets at any time. The judge argues, on the contrary, that this connection is guaranteed through the urban grid.

Division at all levels

This reproduces within the High Court of Justice the divided opinions already evident in the various lower court rulings known to date. Currently, if one crosses the greenway from Vilamarí Street to Passeig de Sant Joan, one will mostly walk along sections that have been annulled by the courts, but at times one will also walk along sections that have been approved and others through pending areas yet to be defined.

Specifically, the route currently has four opposing rulings—one of which has now been approved by the High Court of Justice—and one in its favor. At the beginning of October, Barcelona's first administrative court dismissed the appeal filed by the Ministry of Public Works (Fomento) against the section of the greenway that connects Consell de Cent and Girona streets.

In this case, the judge interpreted that it is "unnecessary" to modify the PGM (General Plan of Planning) because "the proposed intervention does not modify the layout, width, land reserve, legal status of the land, or the functionality of the street." The judge argued that, since cars can continue to circulate—with restrictions—on these streets, these changes are not necessary.

It now remains to be seen whether the initial position taken by the TSJC (High Court of Justice) will be maintained in the rest of the appeals it must analyze or if, on the contrary, the division in the courts over the Consell de Cent superblock will widen even further.