Cájar expropriates two private plots by urgency to build sidewalks on the avenue through which the town is entered

Cájar is the smallest municipality in Andalusia by area: 1.65 square kilometers, home to 5,511 people according to the latest INE data, which also makes it one of the most densely populated in the province. Almost everyone comes and goes via Huétor Vega Avenue. And on that avenue, according to the City Council itself, there is now no safe place to walk.

That is the reason the governing body cites for the expropriation. On August 3, the Plenary approved the list of affected assets in a file for compulsory expropriation processed under the emergency procedure, affecting two adjoining privately owned plots, from which 115.59 and 75.93 square meters will be occupied, 191.52 in total.

According to the information provided, the occupation is considered necessary to carry out an ordinary public works project under the General Urban Planning Plan, «in order to provide pedestrian sidewalks and lighting to the main access road to this town, creating a safe passage space for pedestrians, which it currently lacks». The document describes this as a matter of public interest, «sufficiently well-founded and legally justified».

Two plots and an undivided inheritance

Ownership is divided in the same way on both plots: two-thirds belong to one neighbor and the remaining third to the heirs of a deceased person, four in total.

Now, that detail is not minor from a procedural standpoint. An expropriation in which the land is shared among several owners and with an inheritance involved usually means more parties, more notifications, and, often, more disagreement when it comes to setting the price.

What «under emergency» means

It is worth explaining, because that determines when the machines start. In an ordinary expropriation, the Administration first sets the price of the land, pays it, and only then takes possession. The declaration of urgent occupancy, regulated by Article 52 of the 1954 Compulsory Expropriation Act, reverses that sequence: a prior record is drawn up, a deposit is made, and the Administration may take possession of the land before the price has been agreed, leaving the financial dispute for later.

It is a mechanism intended for works that cannot wait. It is also the most burdensome for the owner, who loses control of the land before knowing how much they will be paid.

A plenary session with two decisions

The August 3 session in which this list of assets was approved was the same one in which Cájar initially approved its municipal budget for 2026, with the fiscal year already two-thirds over.

Both notices are signed by the mayor, Mónica Castillo de la Rica, who since July 31 has also held the position of first vice president of the Provincial Council of Granada, following the departure of the previous officeholder to the Andalusian regional government.