Asturian Rural Union (URA) has questioned this Wednesday the management of the Land Bank after the increase in its budget, which, according to its data, has risen by 45.87% since 2019. The organization has asked the Ministry of Rural Affairs to clarify the reasons for this increase and explain the delays in the resolution of aid for the incorporation of young farmers and ranchers, improvement plans, and subsidies aimed at native breeds.
The general coordinator of URA, Borja Fernández, has presented these criticisms during his speech at the Commission of Rural Affairs and Agricultural Policy of the General Board of the Principality. Relying on the activity report of 2025, he indicated that the budget of the Land Bank has gone from 449,580 euros in 2019 to 655,790 euros in 2026, while highlighting that personnel expenses reached 425,200 euros in 2025, which represents 68.63% of a total budget of 619,550 euros.
The agricultural entity has also emphasized that in 2025 five applications for aid to promote the succession of farms were submitted, all of them approved, and that only two exchanges of rural properties were closed. For URA, this data forces a reassessment of the effectiveness of the actions of the Land Bank and to verify whether the available resources are truly adjusting to the needs of the agricultural sector.
Furthermore, Fernández has requested details about the pending files related to the aid for the incorporation of young people and the improvement plans, as well as about the CAP subsidies intended for ranchers of native breeds that, according to the organization’s complaint, remain unpaid. URA demands to know the volume of unresolved files, the causes of the delays, and a precise schedule for their final processing and the payment of the aid.