València’s northern port expansion has won a court ruling that its opponents say they will challenge in Spain’s Supreme Court. The High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community has dismissed Acció Ecologista Agró’s challenge to the container quay project and upheld the validity of its 2007 environmental impact declaration, according to Europa Press’s report of 8 September.
Comissió Ciutat-Port, the coalition that includes the environmental group, announced plans to appeal after the ruling. The case concerns a project with a tender budget of more than €660 million.
The dispute centred on whether the original environmental assessment still covered the revised design. The Port Authority’s public documentation identifies the final construction project as the one approved by its board on 2 December 2022.
According to Europa Press, the judges regarded the phases as parts of a single project and found that the changes did not require a new environmental assessment. The court gave greater weight to documents submitted by the Port Authority than to its own appointed expert’s opinion, finding that the latter had not examined the specific potential effects in sufficient depth.
The 2007 declaration also requires coastal monitoring
The original environmental decision, published in Spain’s official gazette on 16 August 2007, sets conditions beyond the quay’s design. Sections seven and eight provide for monitoring of the coastline north and south of the port, water quality and fishery resources. They also envisage specific remedial projects if monitoring reveals certain adverse effects.
These obligations are part of the favourable declaration. Their inclusion does not, by itself, establish which checks have been carried out or what they have found during the current works.
The ruling concerns the construction project challenged in this case. Other matters, including terminal concessions and the Logistics Activities Zone plan, fall outside these proceedings, as Radio Valencia reports.
Comissió Ciutat-Port disputes the court’s assessment of the evidence and argues that the works harm the southern beaches and l’Albufera. These are the coalition’s allegations; it also criticises the continuation of construction while the case was being decided. The Port Authority welcomed the ruling and defended the expansion for its expected contribution to logistics activity and employment, according to elDiario.es.
The appeal announcement reported on 9 September states an intention to go to the Supreme Court; it does not establish that an appeal has been filed or accepted for consideration. The filing and the court’s response will be the next milestones in this challenge.
Original AI-generated editorial illustration for València Informada. Conceptual artwork; it does not depict the actual port or construction works.