Projects of regional interest are instruments of direct intervention in the spatial planning of the Autonomous Community, aimed at planning and designing the execution of actions that transcend the municipal scope due to their territorial, economic, social, or cultural impact, their magnitude, or their unique characteristics that make them carriers of a qualified supramunicipal interest, which are not foreseen or accommodated in urban planning.

They may be promoted and developed by public or private initiative, and may aim, among other actions, at the creation of land for the development of economic activities, understood as primary, industrial, or tertiary activities aimed at the production, distribution, or commercialization of goods and services, including any necessary complementary urbanization.

Depending on their purpose, we can differentiate the following types:

• Planned projects of regional interest, which aim to plan and design the execution of actions foreseen in a current sectoral plan.
• Unplanned projects of regional interest, which aim to plan and design the execution of actions not foreseen in any sectoral plan. In this case, the project must be consistent with the content of the territorial planning instruments it complies with, both in terms of its territorial scope and its content.

In any case, the projects must guarantee the proper integration into the territory of the actions constituting their object, their connection with the corresponding networks and services through the execution of any necessary works, their adaptation to the surrounding environment, and their articulation with the determinations of the current urban and territorial planning.

In the case of private initiative projects involving urban transformation of land, the project promoter must demonstrate acceptance by the landowners representing more than 50% of the total surface of the project’s area of intervention.

In the case of projects of regional interest that are necessary for the performance of economic activities, the project promoter must take into account the following:

• When it comes to planned projects of regional interest, the approval procedure may be initiated ex officio or at the request of the persons or entities promoting the project, which must be accompanied by the project prepared by competent technical staff and addressed to the Consellería de Economía, Industria e Innovación.
• When it comes to unplanned projects of regional interest, it will be necessary, as a prior requirement to start the approval procedure, the agreement of the Consello de la Xunta approving the declaration of regional interest of the action constituting its object.

In these cases, the persons or entities promoting the action may request the Consellería de Economía, Industria e Innovación for the declaration of regional interest, for which they must submit a proposed action indicating at least the following:

1. • Description of the type of action to be carried out.
   • Justified location and planning of the proposed action.
   • Characteristics on which the regional interest is based, justifying:

1º. That the planned actions go beyond the municipal scope due to their territorial, economic, social, or cultural impact, their magnitude, or their unique characteristics that make them carriers of a qualified supramunicipal interest, and that merely being located in land spanning multiple municipalities is not sufficient justification.

2º. That the planned actions have a structuring and integrating function for the territory, promote demographic development, or serve to develop, implement, or execute sectoral policies provided for in sectoral legislation, or that the declaration of regional interest is necessary to ensure the proper integration into the territory of the actions constituting its object, their connection with the corresponding networks and services without impairing the functionality of existing ones or their adaptation to the surrounding environment.

1. • If applicable, the inadequacy of the action to current urban planning and the impossibility of carrying out the action under it due to lack of provision or incompatibility with its determinations.
   • Justification of its compliance with the Territorial Planning Guidelines and other territorial planning instruments in force in the area where the project is developed.
   • Financial resources guaranteeing the project’s feasibility.
   • Environmental aspects to be considered.

The declaration of regional interest in no case will condition the resolution that concludes the approval procedure of the project, which will be processed according to the provisions of Law 1/2021, of January 8, on spatial planning of Galicia.