Valle del Zalabí

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 1996. 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 56 wells and boreholes in Valle del Zalabí. Half of the 47 with a depth found water at 15–120 m. 9 springs are recorded.

Ground: 36% porous aquifer, medium productivity; 30% practically impermeable; 20% karstic or fissured aquifer, high productivity; 9.1% low permeability, local groundwater only; 5.3% porous aquifer, high productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• No mapped fire since 2016.
• 0.8% of the municipality lies in the 100-year flood zone; 0.8% in the 500-year one.
• 0.8% of the municipality is preferential flow zone, where new building is generally banned.
• 55% of the municipality is Natura 2000: new works need the region's consent.
• 55% 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 0.12 g: new buildings need seismic design.

Living here

• 4G reaches 90% of homes; fibre 87%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 276 mm a year (1971–2000), about 241 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 31.4 °C, about 35.2 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 31 a year, about 12 by 2041–2070.

Around it

La Calahorra · Albuñán · Alquife · Guadix · Ferreira · Lanteira · Aldeire · Gor