How do I find out the planning classification of a property or whether a plot of land can be built on?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

The planning classification (zoning) is set by the municipality's urban plan, which is public and can be consulted at the town council or online. The plan first divides the municipal area into urban, developable and non-developable land. It then gives each property its planning classification, which is the specific zone and says what can be built, how much and for what use. A plot can only be built on directly if it is a building plot (“solar”), in other words urban land that has already been developed and is not awaiting a plan or a sharing of development costs among landowners. To be certain before buying, ask the town council for a certificate of the property's planning status (“certificado de régimen urbanístico”). Type of land, planning classification and building plots The planning classification assigns each property a zone, such as housing, industry or offices, or a “sistema”, which is land reserved for public uses such as streets, parks or public facilities. Among other things, the zone sets the height, the permitted uses and the buildability (“edificabilidad”), which is the floor area in square metres that can be built. Whether a plot can be built on depends on its situation: A building plot, which is urban land that already has a paved street, street lighting and basic services and is not within an area awaiting development, can be built on with a building permit. Urban land that is not yet fully developed (“suelo urbano no consolidado”) and developable land cannot generally be built on until they have been developed, after approval of the plan that implements them and of the land readjustment (“reparcelación”). Land readjustment shares out the land and the development costs among the owners. Non-developable land, which is rural land, generally cannot be built on, except in very specific cases, such as a home linked to a farm. A property classified as a “sistema”, such as a green space or a street, cannot be built on by its owner even if it is on urban land. Where to look it up Planning documents are public and Catalan law requires them to be available online in full. You can use: The Catalan urban planning register (“Registre de planejament urbanístic de Catalunya”), which brings together the plans in force in every municipality and which anyone can consult on the website of the Generalitat de Catalunya (the Catalan government). The Catalan urban planning map (“Mapa urbanístic de Catalunya”), which combines the zones of all the plans in a single map. It is useful for getting your bearings, but what counts is the plan document itself. In Barcelona, the City Council's urban planning information portal (“Portal d'informació urbanística”), which lets you search by street and number and see the property's planning classification and whether the building is protected. Neither the land registry extract (“nota simple”), the summary issued by the “Registro de la Propiedad” (the Land Registry) of who owns the property and what charges it has, nor the Cadastre (“Catastro”) shows the planning classification. The fact that the Cadastre treats a property as urban for the purposes of the IBI (the local property tax) does not mean that it is a building plot. Before buying a plot Anyone can request the town council's planning certificate and there is normally a fee. If you are buying to build, also check: Whether the property is in an area awaiting development, because the land that must be handed over and the development costs will be borne by whoever owns it when the development is carried out. Whether it is subject to constraints that limit what can be built, such as a road, a river or a flood zone. Whether the plan is under review, because in the meantime the town council can suspend the granting of permits. If the land is in a new development sector, that the plan has not been challenged in the courts and that the municipality has a secure water supply for new developments. In April 2026, the “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, held an entire plan to be void because the municipality did not have sufficient water concessions for those developments.