Torre Outlet seeks planning change to survive

Zaragoza's city government has moved another step to try to keep Torre Outlet on a legal footing after a string of court defeats. On May 18, PP and Vox pushed through a modification of the city's general urban plan, or PGOU, in the Urbanism commission, according to Heraldo. The measure is aimed at legalizing the shopping complex on the former Pikolín site on the carretera de Logroño, where the center says it supports more than 700 jobs. The case has become a long-running planning dispute after the courts struck down successive attempts to regularize the development. ### Why is Zaragoza changing the plan again? The May 18 vote came after the Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza had already approved an initial version of the change in a municipal plenary session on December 23, 2025, with PP and Vox in favor, PSOE abstaining and Zaragoza en Común voting against, Heraldo reported. City officials said then that the goal was to adapt the land-use rules to current legislation and preserve employment at the complex. Víctor Serrano, Zaragoza's councillor for Urbanism, said in March 2025 that a ruling against the 2019 PGOU change did not mean the outlet had to close immediately and that municipal legal services would study the next steps. Aragón TV reported that Serrano said any decision on a cassation appeal would be taken on strictly legal and technical grounds. ### What exactly have the courts struck down? The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Aragón, or TSJA, annulled the PGOU modification approved in December 2019 to legalize Torre Outlet, according to Aragón TV and multiple local reports. That 2019 change had been promoted after an earlier court defeat over the original planning for the site. (cartv.es) On May 2, 2025, El Periódico de Aragón reported that the TSJA also annulled the special plan designed by the PP-led city government to order the land where the complex was built. The court said the planning under challenge was not lawful in its entirety and added that once the general-plan modification was voided, the special plan lost its legal basis. ElDiario.es described that ruling as the fourth court decision against the project. (cartv.es) ### How did Torre Outlet end up in this position? The site occupies the former Pikolín factory grounds in Zaragoza. Local reporting says the legal conflict dates back to the mid-2010s, when planning changes were made to allow commercial uses on land that had been industrial. After the first plan was challenged, the city approved a fresh PGOU modification in 2019 to try to cure the defects identified by the courts. (elperiodicodearagon.com) That second route was also struck down. Heraldo reported that the center now has around 65 stores and more than 700 workers. The latest amendment is framed by supporters as a way to preserve that activity while bringing the planning into line with the law. (elperiodicodearagon.com) ### Who is backing the new amendment, and who is opposing it? PP and Vox have supplied the votes for the latest planning move, both in the December 2025 plenary vote and in the May 18 Urbanism commission, according to Heraldo. PSOE abstained in the earlier plenary vote, while Zaragoza en Común voted against. (heraldo.es) Arturo Sancho, president of the Federación de Asociaciones de Barrios de Zaragoza, said after the March 2025 ruling that the city should stop appealing and execute the judgment. Aragón TV quoted him as saying the groups challenging the project were not calling for the center to be demolished, but for the sentence declaring the PGOU modification illegal to be carried out. ElDiario.es also quoted Sancho as saying the urban operation used to build the center "was not legal." (heraldo.es) ### What happens next? The December 2025 approval was described by Heraldo as an initial one, and the May 18 commission vote was another procedural step in Zaragoza's planning process. The amendment is intended to rewrite permitted land uses at the site so the city can argue the complex fits within the PGOU rather than relying on the planning scheme that the TSJA has already struck down. (cartv.es) That is an inference from the sequence of municipal and court actions reported by local outlets. The next milestones will come through Zaragoza's municipal planning procedures and any further court action tied to the TSJA rulings or possible appeals. For now, the shopping center remains open while the Ayuntamiento and its opponents continue to fight over how, or whether, the development can be regularized. (cartv.es) (heraldo.es)