Mining projects

Unlike other sectors, extractive activity is expressly listed in the annexes to Spanish Law 21/2013 on environmental assessment, so being subject to the procedure is the rule rather than the exception. What is decided case by case is the route: the full procedure, which ends in an environmental impact statement, or the simplified one, depending on the type of mineral resource, the characteristics of the operation and the environmental sensitivity of the site. Extensions and substantial modifications to operating mines may also trigger a new assessment.

A description of the project and the mining method, an examination of alternatives, an environmental baseline inventory, the identification and evaluation of impacts on water, soil, air, noise, vibration, landscape and biodiversity, preventive, corrective and compensatory measures, and an environmental monitoring programme. In mining, the decisive elements are hydrogeology, the management of waste rock and extractive waste, landscape impact, and the integration of the restoration plan from the initial design stage.

It is the document setting out how the area affected by extractive activity will be rehabilitated, required under Spanish Royal Decree 975/2009. It is submitted together with the application for the mining authorisation and approved alongside it, not afterwards. It covers rehabilitation of the void and of the installations, extractive waste management, the implementation schedule, and the cost estimate used as the basis for calculating the financial guarantee. A properly scoped restoration plan from the outset prevents cost overruns and subsequent amendments.

Through a waste management plan under Spanish Royal Decree 975/2009, which classifies facilities according to their risk and subjects Category A facilities to enhanced requirements, including safety studies and emergency plans. The prior characterisation of waste rock and of acid generation potential is the technical foundation for everything else, since it determines the design of dumps and ponds and the real cost of restoration.

The assessment must analyse impacts on surface and groundwater bodies, the effect of dewatering or drawdown of the piezometric level, and the risk of acid mine drainage. Discharges and abstractions require authorisation or a concession from the river basin authority, and the monitoring programme typically imposes water quality and water level monitoring networks with periodic reporting during operation and after closure.

These are three distinct impacts with their own methodologies. Noise is modelled at sensitive receptors against the applicable acoustic quality objectives. Blasting vibration and air overpressure are controlled through measurements at nearby buildings and damage prevention criteria. Dust requires estimating diffuse particulate emissions from working faces, haul roads and stockpiles, and justifying watering, encapsulation and speed limitation measures.

Competence lies with the autonomous regions, but in practice the area affected and the depth of the workings mean that a prior archaeological survey and monitoring during earthworks are usually required. In historic mining districts a further factor applies: the old workings themselves may constitute protected industrial heritage, which constrains both the design of the operation and the restoration plan.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, known as the Critical Raw Materials Act, recognises strategic projects for critical raw materials and provides them with streamlined permitting procedures and preferential access to finance. In March 2025 the Commission recognised seven projects located in Spain. The streamlining affects timescales and administrative coordination, not substance: environmental impact assessment remains mandatory, and the technical quality of the application file becomes more decisive, not less.

Implementation of the approved restoration plan, closure of the extractive waste facilities, dismantling of infrastructure, and post-closure environmental monitoring for the period set out in the decision. Release of the financial guarantee is conditional on the authority verifying that rehabilitation has been carried out as approved, which in practice requires documenting the progress of restoration from the first year onwards.

A social license is not an administrative permit (at least not yet); rather, it is the level of acceptance a community grants to a project. To earn it, it is essential to initiate an early dialogue with stakeholders, provide transparent information, identify and manage environmental and social impacts, and generate tangible benefits for the local area. Tools such as public participation plans, social impact assessments, active listening processes, and local development strategies help reduce conflict and build trust. A technically viable project can face significant hurdles if it lacks social backing; therefore, managing a social license must be addressed from the outset and maintained throughout the entire lifecycle of the mining operation.