Alcalá de Henares

Can you build a house on rustic land?

The Madrid region allows no new houses on rustic land. Restoring an existing or listed building is the way.

Ley 9/2001, art. 29. A town plan can be stricter.

Plan in force: Plan General (a full town plan), from 1991. The region's planning viewer ↗

The national urban information system (SIU) maps the land class for 100% of the municipality.

Only the town hall can confirm it, in writing: ask for a certificado urbanístico.

Is there water?

IGME records 155 wells and boreholes in Alcalá de Henares. Half of the 155 with a depth found water at 7–68 m. 4 springs are recorded.

Ground: 58% porous aquifer, medium productivity; 38% porous aquifer, high productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• 2 fires since 2016 reached the municipality: 131 ha in all, the latest in 2024.
• 17% of the municipality lies in the 100-year flood zone; 21% in the 500-year one.
• 7.9% of the municipality is preferential flow zone, where new building is generally banned.
• 27% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• Radon zone I: new and restored homes need radon protection by law.

Living here

• 4G reaches 100% of homes; fibre 99%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 337 mm a year (1971–2000), about 317 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 31.2 °C, about 35.4 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 51 a year, about 29 by 2041–2070.

Around it

Villalbilla · Anchuelo · Camarma de Esteruelas · Meco · Torrejón de Ardoz · Torres de la Alameda · Daganzo de Arriba · Los Santos de la Humosa