Sant Joan de les Abadesses

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: Plan General (a full town plan), from 2010. 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 4 wells and boreholes in Sant Joan de les Abadesses. Half of the 4 with a depth found water at 148–150 m. 5 springs are recorded.

Ground: 52% porous aquifer, medium productivity; 19% low permeability, local groundwater only; 18% practically impermeable; 11% porous aquifer, high productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• No mapped fire since 2016.
• 1.7% of the municipality lies in the 100-year flood zone; 1.7% in the 500-year one.
• 1.1% of the municipality is preferential flow zone, where new building is generally banned.
• 4.5% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• 4.5% 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.
• Basic seismic acceleration 0.1 g: new buildings need seismic design.

Living here

• 4G reaches 98% of homes; fibre 98%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 741 mm a year (1971–2000), about 648 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 24.4 °C, about 28 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 96 a year, about 62 by 2041–2070.

Around it

Ogassa · Sant Pau de Segúries · Vallfogona de Ripollès · Ripoll · Riudaura · La Vall de Bianya · Camprodon