The Utrera City Council has filed three contentious-administrative appeals against resolutions from the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance that jeopardise nearly 20 million euros from the Next Generation EU funds.
The Utrera City Council has taken the Spanish Government to court. The delegate for Economic Reactivation, Isabel González Blanquero, announced on Wednesday the filing of three contentious-administrative appeals before the National Court against resolutions from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the Ministry of Finance. The aim: to retain nearly 20 million euros from the European Next Generation EU funds.
At stake are three major projects for the city. The first is the redevelopment of La Vereda. The second is the redevelopment of the streets Salado, Don Clemente de la Cuadra, Alcalde Vicente Giráldez, Sevilla, Bambino, and Juan Ramón Jiménez. And the third is the transformation of spaces such as the City Museum and the recovery and enhancement of the Utrera Synagogue.
The struggle over execution deadlines
Two of the appeals are directed against the Ministry of Transport. The origin is the same: the central government has refused to grant a flexibility of execution deadlines for the projects of La Vereda and the pedestrian streets. As González Blanquero explained, the European Commission has allowed for an extension of those deadlines, but the Ministry has not applied it.
“Europe indicated that the deadlines could be flexible. What we do not understand is why this possibility is applied in some cases and not in others,” the delegate denounced. She added a fact that has raised alarms in the City Council: “It is even more serious that the Ministry of Transport is granting this flexibility to certain municipalities while denying it to Utrera.”
González Blanquero pointed to a comparative grievance because this flexibility “is being granted to municipalities governed by the PSOE, without any technical justification explaining this different treatment.” Utrera has been governed by the PP since 2023.
The third front: Finance and the EDIL
The third appeal is filed against a resolution from the Ministry of Finance. In this case, it is due to the rejection of the Local Integrated Development Strategy (EDIL) presented by Utrera. With it, the City Council aimed for nearly 15 million euros in European funding to transform the City Museum and recover the Synagogue.
“We will do everything we need to do to claim what is fair for all Utrera residents,” González Blanquero assured. The councillor recalled that they already defended the municipality in the Agricultural Employment Promotion Programme and will do so again now.
For the residents of Utrera, these projects are not just paperwork. The redevelopment of La Vereda and the streets in the historic centre would mean a direct improvement in mobility and the tourist appeal of the city. The recovery of the Synagogue, a property of great heritage value, could become a new cultural attraction. And the City Museum, with that funding, would expand its exhibition offerings.
The deadlines, for now, are uncertain. The National Court must admit the appeals for processing and set dates. In the meantime, the City Council hopes that justice will rule in favour of Utrera and unlock funds that have already been granted by Europe, but which the central government is keeping in limbo.
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