The Housing Department launches the new strategic land reserve in Urnieta, with 3,487 m2 of urban development rights. These measures come six months after the approval of the Law on Urgent Measures in Housing, Land, and Urban Planning, and put in place tools to mobilize land and speed up residential development.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Denis Itxaso, has emphasized that "a law acquires its full meaning when it ceases to be a provision in the bulletin and begins to solve real problems". The municipalities of Errenteria and Portugalete have activated the priority action route in the Gamongoa and Vicios areas, respectively, while the replotting of Babilonia (Urnieta) will be the first to feed the Basque Government's new strategic land reserve.
In the Gamongoa and Vicios areas, up to 1,405 homes can be promoted, and the Babilonia area will incorporate part of the urban development rights into the strategic reserve to create public assets for rent.
The Law on Urgent Measures, approved on December 11, 2025, establishes priority action and an abbreviated procedure, as well as the transfer to the Basque Government of a portion of the urban development rights to form a reserve of protected rental housing. These measures address two accumulated problems: activating blocked or economically unviable residential areas and creating a stable land reserve for public rental housing.
In the Gamongoa area (Errenteria), up to 755 homes can be promoted, with over 75% subject to some form of public protection. In the Vicios area (Portugalete), 650 homes will be promoted, 420 protected and 230 free, of which 360 will be social housing.
In the Babilonia area (Urnieta), a 5% participation will be added to the Basque Government's Public Land Reserve, as provided by law. This will amount to 3,487.5 m2 of development rights, which will materialize into at least 30 finished protected homes for the public rental stock.
Minister Denis Itxaso has stated that the law's flexibility "is at the service of execution" and that "there are no shortcuts in the application of the law". The strategic reserve will accumulate land and residential assets for public rental, and collaboration with municipalities will be fostered.
