In February of this year, the Ministry of Defence applied to the City of Berrioplano for a licence, and at the beginning of September, the council refused authorisation on the grounds that the fence was against public goods.

The closure should extend the field of manoeuvring and shooting of the current military headquarters of Aitzoain to 29,6 hectares, affecting the land assets of Aitzoain, Berriozar and other peoples. Today, thousands of people in the County of Pamplona travel by foot or by bike along these roads throughout the year, and the barrier would affect them altogether. In fact, the fence ranged from the shooting field to the top of Ezkaba, dividing the mountain into two. Land is also used for agriculture, herbalism, wood and various plantations. In recent years the Commonwealth of the Region of Pamplona is processing the Ezkaba Regional Park project to regulate this use.

Soldiers hungry for land

In the authorization report submitted to the City Hall, the military regarded these lands as their property. The City Council of Berrioplano was surprised at this inauguration and to prepare the answer made requests for property in various institutions on these grounds, all with the same answer: they belonged to the area of Berrioplano. Consequently, with the refusal of the authorization, the City Council informs them that they will have to go to the courts to modify the ownership of the land. In fact, one part belongs to the Council of Aitzoain – Municipality of Berrioplano – another to Berriozar and another to several municipalities.

As a result, there are not many who have attempted with this project that the Spanish Army appropriates these lands, albeit surprisingly, since the main reason to justify the closure has been “to raise the awareness of the civilian population about the space occupied by the CMT – shooting area” (“to instruct civilian personnel of the scope of CMT Aizoain”, the written document in Spanish).

Building without municipal license

Despite the fact that the military has withdrawn from the project, the rest of the works being carried out in the shooting area will continue and it is expected that in a few weeks the four-story building that is under construction without municipal authorization will be completed. For this purpose, the military not only did not request permission, but also did not inform the council that the works were to be carried out. Like the City Hall, the neighbors also realized the new building when the second floor was visible. For the time being, the City Council has not taken any action against this action. In the previous legislature the mayor was in the hands of EH Bildu and on this occasion Navarre Suma bears the command staff of Berrioplano.