Palabras clave
Derecho de superficie
contrato administrativo especial
bienes patrimoniales
criterio finalista
vivienda social.
Resumen
La STS 5961/2025, de 18 de diciembre, aborda la naturaleza jurídica del contrato de constitución de derecho de superficie sobre bienes patrimoniales municipales destinados a vivienda social y formula una doctrina jurisprudencial con alcance sistemático en materia de clasificación contractual del sector público. La sentencia introduce una lectura finalista del inciso «demás negocios jurídicos análogos» previsto en la legislación de contratos públicos, distinguiendo entre los supuestos en que la Administración actúa con una finalidad puramente patrimonial o económica —en cuyo caso el negocio queda excluido del ámbito contractual público— y aquellos en que el derecho de superficie se configura como instrumento directo de una política pública propia de la competencia administrativa, supuesto en el que procede su calificación como contrato administrativo especial.
Keywords
Surface right; special administrative contract; patrimonial property; finalistic criterion; social housing.
Abstract
Supreme Court Judgment 5961/2025 (18 December) addresses the legal nature of contracts establishing surface rights over municipal patrimonial property intended for social housing and develops a doctrinally significant approach to the classification of public sector contracts. The judgment adopts a purposive interpretation of the expression «other analogous legal transactions” contained in Spanish public procurement legislation, distinguishing between situations in which the Administration pursues a merely patrimonial or economic objective —thus excluding the transaction from public procurement law— and those in which the surface right operates as a direct instrument for implementing a public policy within the specific competences of the contracting authority, in which case the contract must be classified as a special administrative contract. This article argues that the main contribution of the judgment lies not only in the qualification of the specific transaction at issue but in the functional reconstruction of analogy as a criterion delimiting the scope of statutory exclusions, leading to a dual-regime model for surface rights over public patrimonial assets. On this basis, the study analyses the jurisdictional, procedural and doctrinal implications of the ruling and offers a critical assessment of its impact on the Spanish system of public contracting.