Green Infrastructure Plan 2025-2027: What Changes for Developers and Planners

Key data

If you have infrastructure, urban planning or land use projects in natural areas, this resolution affects you from June 26, 2026. The State Secretariat for the Environment has approved the II Working Program (2025-2027) of the National Strategy for Green Infrastructure and Ecological Connectivity and Restoration, published in the Official State Gazette of June 25, 2026. This program continues the first program 2022-2024 and establishes concrete actions by the General State Administration to identify, develop and maintain a coherent ecological network throughout Spanish territory, both terrestrial and marine.

This is not a regulation of an exclusively environmental nature: its effects extend to sectoral and territorial planning, conditioning what can be done and where on natural or ecologically connected land.

What does this regulation establish?

The approved program is the second in a series of working plans that develop the National Green Infrastructure Strategy. Its objective is to build a coherent ecological network throughout Spanish territory—terrestrial and marine—through coordinated actions among the different ministries of the General State Administration.

The structural elements of the program are as follows:

• 7 strategic goals that articulate the program's lines of action.
• Cross-cutting actions that affect several ministerial departments simultaneously.
• Inter-ministerial governance system to coordinate execution among agencies.
• Territorial scope: all Spanish territory, both terrestrial and marine.
• Validity: from June 26, 2026 to December 31, 2027.
• Continuity: replaces and continues the I Working Program 2022-2024.
• Horizon: part of a planning process that extends until 2050.

Regarding the financial model, each ministerial department assumes its own expenses without increase in budget allocations or personnel compensation. This means there is no additional centralized budget assigned to the program: execution is integrated into the ordinary budgets of each agency.

The most relevant implication for the private sector is that the program conditions the territorial and sectoral planning of all public administrations, which in turn affects the authorization procedures for infrastructure, urban planning and land use projects in natural or ecologically connected spaces.

Economic and operational impact

The program does not generate direct costs for private companies in the form of fees or taxes. However, its operational impact can be significant in the following areas:

• Longer processing times: Projects in areas identified as part of the ecological network may require additional reports or stricter environmental conditions in their authorizations.
• Land use restrictions: The identification of new spaces as part of green infrastructure may limit or condition urban, agricultural or infrastructure developments in those areas.
• Project adaptation: Developers with projects in design or processing phase on natural land must verify if their areas are affected by the program's actions.
• Coordination with administrations: Inter-ministerial governance implies that several agencies may have jurisdiction over the same project, increasing administrative complexity.
• No additional budget cost for the GSA: Each ministry finances actions with its current allocations, which may result in variable execution rates depending on each department's availability.

Who does it affect?

• Infrastructure developers (energy, transport, hydraulic) in natural areas or ecological connectivity zones.
• Real estate developers and urban planners with land classified or in the process of classification in natural environments.
• Territorial planners from regional and local administrations that must adapt their planning instruments.
• Agricultural and forestry companies with activity in spaces that may be incorporated into the ecological network.
• Engineering and environmental consulting firms that prepare environmental impact studies and restoration plans.
• Public administrations (regional and local) that must align their sectoral planning with the program's goals.
• Renewable energy sector companies with projects on natural land (wind parks, photovoltaic solar).

Practical example

A renewable energy developer has a wind farm in processing in a mountain area in Castilla y León. With the entry into force of the II Working Program on June 26, 2026, the area where the project is located may be identified as a priority ecological corridor within the 7 strategic goals of the program.

In that case, the developer must:

1. Verify if the project area falls within the spaces identified by the program as part of the ecological network.
2. Anticipate that the competent administration may require additional conditions in the Environmental Impact Statement, extending the processing period.
3. Review the project design to incorporate ecological connectivity measures that reduce the risk of rejection or conditions that make the investment unfeasible.

This type of preventive review can avoid delays of months in obtaining authorizations and redesign costs in advanced project phases.

What should companies do now?

1. Review the portfolio of projects on natural land: Identify which projects in processing or design phase are located in areas that may be affected by the ecological network defined in the program.
2. Consult with the competent administration: Request updated information from sectoral agencies (Ministry of Ecological Transition, regional governments) on whether your project areas fall within the program's action areas.
3. Incorporate ecological connectivity criteria in design: Adapt projects to include ecological permeability measures from initial phases, reducing the risk of conditions in environmental processing.
4. Update environmental impact studies: Studies in progress must reflect the new framework of the II Program 2025-2027 and its 7 strategic goals.
5. Monitor program development until 2027: Concrete actions will be deployed until December 31, 2027, so continuous monitoring is key to anticipate new restrictions or conditions.
6. Plan with a 2050 horizon: This program is part of a long-term planning process. Investment decisions on natural land must consider that ecological restrictions will progressively expand until 2050.

Official source

Consult complete regulation in official source

Notice: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific decisions, consult a qualified professional. Source: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-13872