El Castillo de las Guardas

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: Normas Subsidiarias (an older, simpler plan), from 1994. 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 19 wells and boreholes in El Castillo de las Guardas. Half of the 15 with a depth found water at 16–50 m.

Ground: 79% practically impermeable; 21% low permeability, local groundwater only.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• 4 fires since 2016 reached the municipality: 5,474 ha in all, the latest in 2025.
• No mapped flood zone (only studied rivers are mapped).
• 3.7% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• Radon zone II: new and restored homes need radon protection by law.

Living here

• 4G reaches 98% of homes; fibre 45%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 746 mm a year (1971–2000), about 636 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 33.3 °C, about 36.8 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 5 a year, about 1 by 2041–2070.

Around it

El Madroño · El Ronquillo · El Garrobo · Zufre · Aznalcóllar · Nerva · La Granada de Río-Tinto · Gerena