Metal Detecting in Spain Catalunya

[LandSea]

I've spent two years detecting in Spain - mainly on the Costa Brava Coast. Some super finds on the beaches that are not accessed by Tourists - any one interested in detecting this part of Spain - post a message here.
Ray -L'Estartit, Girona, Spain

 

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[jbrown]

i have not detected in that part of Spain but every year i go to peniscola and detect the beaches there. i will coming over there around the middle of august for a few days to try my luck again. happy hunting

 

[Spanish]

i live in spain in almeria i aiso find alot of good items

 

[ps_jb]

i live in spain in almeria i aiso find alot of good items

Hello,

Is it legal to MD on the beaches?

Thank you!

 

[fastinjun]

i live in spain in almeria i aiso find alot of good items

I just recently moved to spain just south of granada from the usa. Can you suggest good places to go metal detecting? what are the laws concerning this here in spain?
thanks

 

[kered]

i live in spain in almeria i aiso find alot of good items

I just recently moved to spain just south of granada from the usa. Can you suggest good places to go metal detecting? what are the laws concerning this here in spain?
thanks

Since the 14 of November 2007 detecting in all Andalucia is 100% prohibited, heavy fines and detector confiscation may result, other parts of spain are mostly ok, other than close to arquiogical & historical sites. Its always best to check the local bylaws beforhand rather than be caught up in problems

 

[SeabeeRon]

i live in spain in almeria i aiso find alot of good items

I just recently moved to spain just south of granada from the usa. Can you suggest good places to go metal detecting? what are the laws concerning this here in spain?
thanks

Since the 14 of November 2007 detecting in all Andalucia is 100% prohibited, heavy fines and detector confiscation may result, other parts of spain are mostly ok, other than close to arquiogical & historical sites. Its always best to check the local bylaws beforhand rather than be caught up in problems

Does that prohibition include the beaches around Malaga and along that section of the Mediterranian? Beautiful place!

 

[kered]

Does that prohibition include the beaches around Malaga and along that section of the Mediterranian? Beautiful place!

Unfortunately yes

 

[Riggy]

Hi, I was searching the net regarding detecting and came across this site and forum. Unfortunately kered you are wrong, as I have just obtained permission to detect on beaches from east of Malaga to near Torrox. I live just outside Malaga. Licenses do not exist, one has to get written permission in this area from the Consejera de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte. I do not know if this is available to non residents though. It is free of charge and lasts for one year.
If you wish to detect anywhere inland you would need to seek permission from any land owner, as all land in Spain is either private, national Park or Government owned. Parks and Historical sites are strictly forbidden. Hope this helps someone.

 

[Dean Slater]

My name is Dean a member of your forum I am moving to Torrox village in
January any info would be a bonus looking for beach permission
[email protected]

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Regarding this "md'ing legal in Spain ?" discussion:

Has anyone looked at the citation for issue of md'ing in Spain ?

Law

It's pretty "dire" sounding. But look closer and notice the origination: The "tourist's office". So apparently someone, who assembled this Europe-laws list, fired off a letter to the "tourist's office". Who in turn probably forwarded it to some border lawyer or consulate, eh ? And then sure JUST LIKE THE USA's "arpa": They can dream up all sorts of stuff that seems to apply to the "pressing question". Eh ?

True story of Spain + "legal?" to follow in next post

 

[Tom_in_CA]

About 15 yrs. ago, a friend of mine asked me to list an Fisher 1260 metal detector for sale for him, on ebay. Since he didn't have a computer. I helped the guy out, and listed it on my Ebay account for him. And the winning bidder was some dude from Spain !

At first I was skeptical of sending over-seas. But ... since my listing hadn't specified "USA only", I was sort of stuck. So I figured out what over-seas shipping would be (not cheap!) figuring that would scare the buyer away. So I could sell to the next highest bidder here in the USA. But to no avail: The buyer from Spain gladly pre-paid the shipping, full-price, etc...

So I thought, Ok, what the heck, I don't mind shipping to Spain. Then my curiosity got the better of me. Why so hot and bothered to get this particular machine ? And after looking at the Europe laws link, how the heck can they even detect there in Spain, to begin with ? So the following email exchange took place:

buyer: The 1260 is a favorite model of hunters in my circle of friends. And since this model is out of production, and since it's hard to get USA goods here, we have no choice but to buy on the used market, and snatch these up when we see them.

Me: Ok, no problem. But just curious: Can you check this link (linking him to the laws-of-Europe link). How can you even detect anywhere there, in-lieu of this dire sounding material ? And I've even seen a UK md'r, who had just returned from a vacation to Spanish beach resort, get reprimanded when he posted a show & tell of some rings he'd found while there. He was told in no uncertain terms that Spain was a big no-no everywhere. (and this link was shown as proof) So how is it you can detect there ?

buyer: Look close. You'll see that this all applies to public lands and/or historical sites. So it does not apply to private land, which is outside the scope of laws governing the use of public land. So we can hunt on private farmers fields with permission no problem. And .... quite frankly, .... we're so far back in the forests normally, that there's no one around to care, in the first place.

The buyer and I then corresponded for awhile, and he sent me cool pix of the items, coins, etc.... they are accustomed to finding there.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So because of this chance interaction, It made me wonder about the rest of the information on that Europe laws compendium list. How easy is it for some pencil pusher to get a letter about "is it legal to metal detect?", and give some silly answer in a reply ?

Because perhaps they're couching it in terms of shipwreck salvor laws. Or "raiding the pyramids". Or exporting gold bars (like smuggling) across the border. Blah blah blah. And even though such things were NEVER meant to apply to casual fumble fingers hobbyist stuff, well gee, you asked.

An example of this happened when Fisher Co. sent a letter to a border consulate attorney's office Mexico Rep: "Is metal detecting allowed in Mexico?" (because Fisher had fielded the question from curious customer's getting ready to vacation there). The reply came back "no". And cited various dire sounding laws.

But oddly, detectors are a common site in Mexico on the tourist beaches. And the larger cities even have detector dealers (including Fisher dealers, doh!). So this was obviously a national scale case of "no one cared till you asked" type routine.

Thus whenever someone says "it's illegal to detect at such & such Place, city, country, state, etc...", I often ask "says who ?". And don't always assume that just because they can show some link, that therefore it's necessarily true.

Oh sure, use common sense. Don't crash an archie convention. Avoid obvious historic monuments, etc....

 

[DiggerFan]

yes but..

Yes, you are absolutely right about that. I'm just saying that it is better to consult with the national authorities, at the state level of each Spanish community since they are different in each one (it is not the same to be hunting in the Canary Islands than in Malaga). Andalusia is still the most restrictive regarding the use of metal detectors on the beaches. Of course, don't get caught near an archaeological excavation, because there you've really messed it up (I can attest to that). If you want to learn more about the Spanish legislation for the use of the detector, I recommend you this website where it is explained very well.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Yes, you are absolutely right about that. I'm just saying that it is better to consult with the national authorities, at the state level of each Spanish community since they are different in each one (it is not the same to be hunting in the Canary Islands than in Malaga). Andalusia is still the most restrictive regarding the use of metal detectors on the beaches. Of course, don't get caught near an archaeological excavation, because there you've really messed it up (I can attest to that). If you want to learn more about the Spanish legislation for the use of the detector, I recommend you this website where it is explained very well.

Diggerfan, sorry but only paying supporting vendors can post links to their website.