Ribera d'Urgellet

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 Ribera d'Urgellet. That is not proof there is no water: ask local drillers.

Ground: 33% practically impermeable; 28% low permeability, local groundwater only; 21% karstic or fissured aquifer, high productivity; 12% porous aquifer, medium productivity; 5.2% karstic or fissured aquifer, medium productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• No mapped fire since 2016.
• 2% of the municipality lies in the 100-year flood zone; 2% in the 500-year one.
• 2% of the municipality is preferential flow zone, where new building is generally banned.
• 5.2% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• 5.2% of the municipality is a protected natural area, whose plan limits what can be done.
• Radon zone II: new and restored homes need radon protection by law.

Living here

• 4G reaches 99% of homes; fibre 75%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 621 mm a year (1971–2000), about 552 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 26.8 °C, about 30.7 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 128 a year, about 93 by 2041–2070.

Around it

la Vansa i Fórnols · Alàs i Cerc · la Seu d'Urgell · Fígols i Alinyà · Montferrer i Castellbò · les Valls d'Aguilar · Cabó