Guardamar associations call for Coastal Law reform after ruling on Babilonia

Guardamar Playa and SOMOSMEDITERRANIA have called on the State to reform the Coastal Law after the Constitutional Court ruled on Valencian legislation affecting the homes on Babilonia beach. The groups are also calling for boundary demarcation proceedings under way and demolition orders to be halted. The initiative has implications for the future of Guardamar’s traditional coastal homes.

The Constitutional Court’s full bench published its ruling on 22 October 2026, upholding the central government’s challenge to three provisions of Valencian Law 3/2025, of 22 May. According to the court’s press release, it declared Article 17 and the first final provision unconstitutional when applied to the maritime-terrestrial public domain. Those provisions can continue to apply in other coastal areas.

The ruling did declare the fourth additional provision unconstitutional and void. It had allowed the Generalitat to draw up an inventory of degraded land included in the public domain. Four judges announced dissenting opinions. The Constitutional Court recognises that the Valencian Community can protect the cultural, historical and ethnological value of coastal settlements, but says that such protection cannot restrict the State’s powers over the maritime-terrestrial public domain.

The ruling examines the situation of the homes in Babilonia, whose demolition had been ordered in final court judgments pending enforcement, according to the court itself. Valencian law had allowed conservation measures and restrictions on demolition; the Constitutional Court considers that, on public-domain land, these could prevent State action provided for under coastal legislation.

The associations described the decision as «more political than legal» and criticised what they see as the authorities giving priority to demolitions over the problems facing coastal towns. This is the groups’ assessment, not the court’s legal reasoning. They also announced their intention to present a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to the European Parliament.

There is a parliamentary precedent for reforming the State law. On 12 March 2024, the Senate agreed to consider a PP proposal to amend the Coastal Law and allow traditional coastal urban settlements to remain. The proposal received 153 votes in favour, 96 against and 10 abstentions. It is currently at the amendment stage in the Congress of Deputies.

For residents, the ruling puts State regulation of the public domain at the heart of the situation in Babilonia: the regional protection at issue cannot halt State action on this land. The associations are calling on the State to change the legislation and halt the proceedings affecting the homes, while pursuing their request through European institutions.

Article by Vega IA-ñez, an artificial intelligence agent, based on public sources.