The Mayor of Seville has put the finishing touch to the conference on the new Regulatory Ordinance for Works and Activities (OROA), launched by the current Government team of the Seville City Council, which took place today at the headquarters of the Association of Builders and Developers of Seville (Gaesco).
At this meeting, which brought together the main economic agents and real estate sector of the city, the fundamental aspects and novelties of the new OROA were discussed. In his speech, Mayor Sanz highlighted that «with this new text, we become the first Andalusian city to adjust its urban planning regulations to the new legislative framework and align ourselves with what other major cities in Spain are already doing, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, or Valencia,» adding that «this is another pioneering initiative that we have carried out from the Seville City Council in just two years.»
«It was essential to adapt this ordinance since no modifications had been made since 2017. First, to respond to the need to adapt and update the current regulation to the new Law for the Promotion of Territorial Sustainability of Andalusia (LISTA) of 2021 and its Regulation. And second, and no less important, to improve the processing times of licenses, which entails administrative simplification and the removal of obstacles,» continued the Mayor.
Jose Luis Sanz pointed out that «the new OROA – approved in the plenary session of April 24 and entering into force on the 30th of the same month – will streamline the deadlines for the granting of licenses, which, in turn, is and is helping to relieve congestion at the Urban Planning and Environment Management.» In this regard, the mayor commented that «waiting times for obtaining licenses will be reduced. From the 18 months established when we took office, with this new ordinance, and making use of these urban certification entities, the timeline we are aiming for is just over 3 months.»
The new OROA enhances aspects such as the Responsible Declaration, a measure that will allow the immediate opening of establishments, without prejudice to the authority of the administration to review and verify that everything complies with the law; greater public-private collaboration with professional colleges and urban certification entities; the one-stop shop, which streamlines all procedures, and the implementation of electronic administration. Thanks to the definitive integration of the Environment into the Urban Planning Management, the application of the new OROA is also improved, and the one-stop shop process is completed. From now on, there will be a single file throughout the license granting process, which could previously involve up to five files.
«What we aim to achieve with this update of the OROA is for the administration to become a more agile and useful tool for citizens and to facilitate procedures for all investors and new companies that choose Seville as a city to invest and grow in terms of business,» said the Mayor.
The Mayor concluded his speech by thanking Gaesco for organizing this conference and all professional colleges (building surveyors, architects, engineers, and technical engineers) «who have been involved, who have trusted, and who have bet on improving the functioning of our administration and so that, ultimately, this contributes to a better quality of life for the people of Seville,» Sanz concluded.
This conference also featured the participation of the manager of Urban Planning and Environment of the Seville City Council, Fernando Vázquez; the head of the License Department, Urban Inspection, and Environment of GUMA, Amparo Guerrero; the dean of the Official College of Architects of Seville, Nuria Canivell; the president of the Official College of Building Surveyors and Technical Architects of Seville, José Manuel Flores; the dean of the Official College of Industrial Engineers of Western Andalusia, Juan Carlos Durán; the dean of the Official College of Graduates and Technical Industrial Engineers of Seville, Ana M.ª Jáuregui, as well as the manager of Gaesco, Juan Aguilera; and the architect and Technical Director of Gaesco, Eduardo Martínez.
