The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León has declared the full nullity of the Order MTD/1854/2022, of December 16, of the Ministry of Mobility and Digital Transformation. This order resolved the public tender for the granting of 138 Audiovisual Communication Licenses For the provision of radio services in metric waves with frequency modulation, private ownership and that make commercial communications, in the community of Castilla y León. The judicial decision estimates the contentious-administrative appeal filed by the Spanish broadcasting company (SER), an entity that had presented a total of 23 offers for 15 locations in the region, including specifically Two offers for Soria Capital and one for the Burgo de Osma. The sentence implies the Nullity of the complete contest and of all the awards made, which affects all licenses, including the Sorianas. Consequently, the competent body of the Junta de Castilla y León is ordered to issue a new resolution on the award of all licenses taken to competition.
The judicial ruling is based on several irregularities detected. First, the performance of the Evaluation tableindicating that this cannot be limited to acritically assume technical reports, whether external or internal, but must consign your own judgment and the concrete reasons for its valuations. The sentence emphasizes that the table “cannot be limited to literally and acritically reproduce the report that has been issued by that external advice that has collected, then, if you assume it, you will have to express your own reasons for why it assumes it.” In this case, it is criticized that the table entirely assumed the reports prepared by the service of structures, audiovisual media and legal regime (Semarj) “without having previously set the criteria or extremes that demanded the work of technical advice and without explaining those criteria when making the award proposal.” In addition, the objectivity and impartiality of the reports issued by officials who also participated in the drafting of the technical documentation of the contest, whose participation in the table is excluded by the Public Sector Contract Law, a principle that remains in the General Law of Audiovisual Communication.
Another central reason for cancellation is Total and absolute lack of motivation of the contested order, violating article 35.2 of Law 39/2015. According to the sentence, the minutes of the evaluation table do not explain or solve problems that the bases and offers presented on issues such as the assessment of stable employment, the interpretation of what is understood as individual programming or produced by their own means, programs of only issuance, target audience of each program, local programming or the equipment of radio studies. The table, by assuming the scores of the SEMARJ reports “in which it is not explained why they incline a certain interpretation of the bases or indicate that it fits more than one interpretation”, it seems to have been oblivious to the various interpretations and applications Possible bases and offers.
-The sentence also addresses the admission of entities such as Friends Foundation of Radio María (Radio María) and Association of Eplazaciones and Communication Nueva Esperanza (the eleventh time radio), which together obtained 30% of the licenses. These entities offer exclusively religious program and are mainly financed by donations, without issuing commercial advertising.
Although the Supreme Court has affirmed that non -profit associations can provide commercial audiovisual services, the call was specifically for services that “make commercial communications.” Therefore, the new Evaluation table that it is constituted must verify whether these entities meet this requirement to be admitted. It is recalled that an earlier sentence of the Chamber (50/2025, of January 16) had already annulled the contested order regarding Radio María by the Lack of financial viabilityby proceeding more than 99% of its donation income.
As a consequence of the estimation of the appeal, the full nullity of the order MTD/1854/2022 and, therefore, of the contest and the awards. The competent body of the Junta de Castilla y León is ordered to issue a new resolution on the award of all licenses, in accordance with the pronouncements of the sentence. The Procedural coasts They have been imposed on the demanded administration, with a limit of 2,000 euros plus VAT. The sentence is not firm and against it can be filed appeal before the Supreme Court within 30 days.
