Agricultural building, tool store or greenhouse: what you can build on your land in Almería

On rural land (suelo rústico) in Almería you can build, with a municipal building licence (licencia de obra), the agricultural buildings, tool stores, irrigation reservoirs and installations your farm holding needs: these are ordinary actions (article 21 of the LISTA, Andalusia's planning act, Ley 7/2021). They must be proportionate, and the Regulation implementing the LISTA takes as a reference that buildings do not exceed 2% of the plot. A produce-handling warehouse that serves other farms or exceeds 2,500 m² needs prior authorisation, with a six-month time limit, and a compensatory levy (prestación compensatoria) of 10% of the works. The design for an agricultural building costs from €1,400 + VAT and the town hall has three months to decide the licence.

What you can build with a municipal licence

The LISTA calls agricultural, livestock and forestry uses the ordinary uses of rural land (article 21.1). The works, buildings and installations needed for their normal operation are ordinary actions (article 21.2.a). They go through a municipal building licence, without prior authorisation (article 21.3).

The LISTA's General Regulation (Reglamento General de la LISTA, Decreto 550/2022) specifies which buildings are necessary for a farm holding (article 28.2):

• Tool stores for farming equipment (casetas de aperos de labranza).
• Buildings for storing plant protection products and machinery.
• Buildings for the installations the holding needs.
• Irrigation infrastructure and similar.

All of them must meet three conditions (articles 22 and 26 of the Regulation):

• Link: the building stays tied to the agricultural use that justifies it. Without a holding, there is no building.
• Proportionality: the size matches what the land needs. The Regulation treats as ordinary the buildings that do not exceed 2% of the plot area (article 28.5).
• Integration: type and appearance suited to the rural setting, without encouraging new settlements to form.

Example: on a 2-hectare plot, 2% is 400 m² of buildings. Each municipality's local plan adds a minimum plot size, setbacks from boundaries and tracks, and a maximum height. In El Ejido, Vícar, La Mojonera or Berja you have to look at it case by case.

Greenhouses, reservoirs and irrigation sheds

A greenhouse is an agricultural use, but its structure does go through the town hall. The Regulation requires a licence for installing greenhouses on rural land when they have a load-bearing structure (article 291). Domestic ones, and those of minor scale because of their characteristics or area, are excluded.

• Irrigation reservoirs: they need a licence, like the other buildings and installations linked to agricultural use (article 291).
• Irrigation sheds and control heads: these are irrigation infrastructure needed for the holding (article 28.2). They need a licence and are subject to the same proportionality conditions.
• Fencing and tracks: permanent fencing of plots also needs a licence. So does opening or paving tracks, except those authorised by the agricultural or forestry authority.
• Farming work: earth movements that are part of cultivation are not subject to licence (article 292).

In addition, each town hall sets in its plan or ordinances the distances to boundaries and tracks and other conditions for greenhouses. Before putting up a new one, ask for those conditions in writing.

When prior authorisation is needed

Storing, handling and packing produce are complementary first-processing activities. They count as an ordinary action on two conditions: serving only your own holding and not exceeding 2,500 m² of building (article 28.4 of the Regulation).

A produce-handling warehouse (almacén de manipulado) that works with produce from other farms is an extraordinary action, like any industrial or services use (article 22 of the LISTA). It needs a prior authorisation before the licence:

1. Action project (proyecto de actuación) submitted to the town hall, which justifies why the activity must be located on rural land.
2. Public information for at least one month and a hearing for neighbouring owners.
3. Binding report from the regional department responsible for land planning, if the action has an impact beyond the municipality.
4. Town hall decision within a maximum of six months. If none arrives, the authorisation is deemed refused.
5. Compensatory levy of 10% of the material execution budget, not counting machinery and equipment. Municipal ordinances can reduce it (article 35 of the Regulation).

You can ask for the authorisation and the building licence to be processed together (article 32 of the Regulation). In an industrial estate or on industrial urban land this procedure does not exist: the licence is enough.

A fruit and vegetable packing warehouse is also a business activity, with its own environmental and opening procedure. We cover it in our guide to the opening licence and on our page on fruit and vegetable packing warehouses.

Why you cannot use the store as a home

The licence for an agricultural building authorises a specific use, and the building stays tied to it (articles 22 and 25 of the Regulation). Living in it is another use, with another procedure.

Article 26 of the Regulation goes into detail. In a non-residential building, kitchens, bedrooms, chimneys, porches, barbecues and swimming pools are not allowed. Neither are façade openings that would lead to a home being made without authorisation.

• Home tied to the holding: it is an ordinary action only if it is necessary for the holding and meets the requirements of article 29 of the Regulation. The link is noted at the Land Registry.
• Home not tied to a holding: it is an extraordinary action, with prior authorisation and a compensatory levy of 15% (article 22 of the LISTA). We explain this in our guide to building on rural land.
• Prefabricated houses and static caravans: these also need a licence (article 291 of the Regulation).

Turning the store into a house without a permit is a planning offence, and the town hall can order the building to go back to its authorised use. If you already have a building made without a licence, first see whether it can be legalised.

Common restrictions: ramblas, roads and protected areas

Even if the plan allows the building, the land may have limits under other laws. Their authorisations must be settled before you can obtain the licence.

• Ramblas (dry riverbeds) and watercourses. The banks have an easement zone of 5 metres and a policing zone of 100 metres (article 6 of the Ley de Aguas, the water act). In the policing zone, any building needs prior authorisation or a responsible declaration to the river basin authority (article 9 of the Reglamento del Dominio Público Hidráulico).
• Regional and provincial roads. The no-building zone is 50 metres on high-capacity roads and 25 metres on the rest. It is measured from the outer edge of the carriageway (article 56 of Ley 8/2001).
• State roads, such as the A-7. The building limit line is 50 metres on motorways and dual carriageways and 25 metres on conventional roads (article 33 of Ley 37/2015).
• Protected areas. In a natural park, any new action on non-developable land needs authorisation from the environmental authority (article 13 of Ley 2/1989). In natural sites (parajes naturales), such as Punta Entinas-Sabinar, the same applies (article 10).
• Protected rural land. The local plan can ban building on specially protected land or land preserved because of risks, such as flooding.

These distances are checked on a plan before the building is drawn. Moving the building 20 metres in time saves months.

Licence, timescales and cost

1. Feasibility: type of land, plot area, restrictions and the holding's documentation.
2. Design: 3 to 6 weeks.
3. Licence: the town hall has three months from the moment the documentation is complete (article 140 of the LISTA). For new-build works, if it does not reply, the application is deemed refused (article 11.4 of the consolidated text of the Ley de Suelo, the national land act).
4. Works and completion certificate.

These figures are indicative. A 200 m² building means between €40,000 and €60,000 of building work, plus the geotechnical survey and site supervision (dirección de obra) if you hire them.

At Poniente Arquitectura we produce the design and process the licence for agricultural buildings from €1,400 + VAT, with a fixed quote within 24 hours. If you are unsure before buying the land, the feasibility report costs from €250 + VAT.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Ley 7/2021 (LISTA), consolidated text in the BOE
• LISTA, article 21: ordinary actions (Iberley)
• LISTA, article 22: extraordinary actions (Iberley)
• LISTA, article 140: time limit for licences (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 22: actions on rural land (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 25: administrative control on rural land (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 26: suitability and proportionality (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 28: ordinary actions (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 29: tied homes (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 32: authorisation of extraordinary actions (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 35: compensatory levy (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 291: acts subject to licence (Iberley)
• LISTA Regulation, article 292: acts not subject to licence (Iberley)
• Consolidated text of the Ley de Suelo (national land act), article 11 (Iberley)
• Consolidated text of the Ley de Aguas (water act) (BOE)
• Reglamento del Dominio Público Hidráulico (public water domain regulation) (BOE)
• Ley 8/2001, Andalusian roads act, article 56 (Iberley)
• Ley 37/2015, roads act, article 33 (Iberley)
• Ley 2/1989, Inventory of Protected Natural Areas of Andalusia (BOE)
• Certicalia: cost of an agricultural building design in Almería

This guide is for information; every case needs a check of the local rules.