la Vansa i Fórnols

Can you build a house on rustic land?

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

DL 1/2010, art. 47. A town plan can be stricter.

Plan in force: Normas Subsidiarias (an older, simpler plan), from 2015. 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?

No well or borehole is recorded in la Vansa i Fórnols. That is not proof there is no water: ask local drillers. 8 springs are recorded.

Ground: 33% karstic or fissured aquifer, high productivity; 25% low permeability, local groundwater only; 17% karstic or fissured aquifer, medium productivity; 14% practically impermeable; 10% porous aquifer, medium productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• No mapped fire since 2016.
• No mapped flood zone (only studied rivers are mapped).
• 42% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• 42% of the municipality is a protected natural area, whose plan limits what can be done.
• Radon zone I: new and restored homes need radon protection by law.

Living here

• 4G reaches 100% of homes; fibre 15%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 714 mm a year (1971–2000), about 635 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 22.3 °C, about 26 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 126 a year, about 88 by 2041–2070.

Around it

Ribera d'Urgellet · Fígols i Alinyà · Josa i Tuixén · Alàs i Cerc · la Coma i la Pedra · Odèn · Cava