Zalla

Can you build a house on rustic land?

The Basque Country allows a new house on rustic land only when a farm needs it. Otherwise it has to go in a village, or restore a building.

Ley 2/2006, art. 28. A town plan can be stricter.

Plan in force: Normas Subsidiarias (an older, simpler plan), from 1999. 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 Zalla. That is not proof there is no water: ask local drillers.

Ground: 48% karstic or fissured aquifer, medium productivity; 39% low permeability, local groundwater only; 13% porous aquifer, high productivity.

Choosing where to drill takes a hydrogeologist.

What to watch for

• 2 fires since 2016 reached the municipality: 685 ha in all, the latest in 2022.
• 5.1% of the municipality lies in the 100-year flood zone; 6% in the 500-year one.
• 3.7% of the municipality is preferential flow zone, where new building is generally banned.
• Radon zone I: new and restored homes need radon protection by law.

Living here

• 4G reaches 100% of homes; fibre 96%. Averages for the municipality.
• Rain: 1,059 mm a year (1971–2000), about 886 by 2041–2070.
• Summer highs: 23.2 °C, about 25.5 °C by 2041–2070.
• Frost days: 17 a year, about 7 by 2041–2070.

Around it

Gordexola · Sopuerta · Balmaseda · Güeñes · Galdames · Valle de Mena