Almería

Can you build a house on rustic land?

Andalucía requires at least 2.5 ha for a new house on rustic land.

Other cases: 5 ha on forest land.

Decreto 550/2022, art. 31. A town plan can be stricter.

Plan in force: Plan General (a full town plan), from 1999. 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 580 wells and boreholes in Almería. Half of the 561 with a depth found water at 15–51 m. Measured yields (152): 4–8 L/s, the middle half. 6 springs are recorded.

Ground: 46% porous aquifer, medium productivity; 18% low permeability, local groundwater only; 18% practically impermeable; 9.1% karstic or fissured aquifer, high productivity; 9.1% porous aquifer, high productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• 19 fires since 2016 reached the municipality: 3,911 ha in all, the latest in 2026.
• No mapped flood zone (only studied rivers are mapped).
• 73% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• 9.1% of the municipality is a protected natural area, whose plan limits what can be done.
• Not a radon zone.
• Basic seismic acceleration 0.14 g: new buildings need seismic design.

Living here

• 4G reaches 100% of homes; fibre 99%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 138 mm a year (1971–2000), about 117 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 29.9 °C, about 32.6 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 0 a year, about 0 by 2041–2070.

Around it

Viator · Pechina · Huércal de Almería · Benahadux · Gádor · Turrillas · Níjar · Tabernas