Metal detecting in Spain.. Catalonia/Barcelona?

[EngraverHand]

As I understand the laws and rules might be different from area to area and where I live it´s not allowed to go hunting with a detector on the beaches in Sitges, Barcelona due to the high amount of ancient coins on the beaches and they don't want tourists to grab them.. and are better where they are, in the sand I guess.

If I would go hunting on the beach, i would mainly be interested in the tourists losses rather than the ancient and precious metal.. not that it´s not interesting, but.. I will imagine it can be loads of fun things left behind by tourists.

I don't know if that is a law in Catalonia, Barcelona or a local law in Sitges where I live.. even though I like it or not, I´m not going to challenge the rules as I don't want any tickets, the gear taken or give the hobby a bad name. Anyone know more about rules in Catalonia/Barcelona or where to search for such rules?

Anyone know of any groups, clubs, organizations, pages or anything about metal detecting, especially in the Catalonia/Barcelona area? :-)

Marius

 

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Marius,

Spanish Law re Metal Detecting:
We all know of detectorists going to Spain who take their metal detectors with them, to "do" the beaches. Most of them don't seem to have any problems, but they could!

If you consult with the Spanish Tourist Office in London their general information sheet states "The use of metal detectors is not allowed unless an import license for the detector has previously been issued. Further enquiries should be made to the Spanish Commercial Office. The Commercial Office in turn will provide the following info (in brief):

Because the use of metal detectors inherantly involves the finding of national heritage/archaeological/treasure trove items anything found by this method of recovery could be covered by the relevant law (Historical Heritage) of 25/06/1985 & Royal Decree of 10/01/1986. It would then be necessary to comply with the complex proceedures outlined in these enactments, making it highly unlikely that any item discovered could be removed from Spain. The consent if given can take several months and if of historical/artistic interest it would be unlikely.

Basically they are saying anything found should in theory go through the appropriate assessment, even current coinage!

There is further legislation unrelated to the historical /cultural aspect which could cause a detectorist problems. The metal detector being used may not comply with radiation safeguard legislation.

Finally if this hasn't put you off. There have be complaints from local Naval authorities that use of Metal Detectors interferes with electronic communications.

These problems relate to both land and beach detecting in Spain.

The official advise therefore, is that is preferable NOT to use metal detectors in Spain.

Source: Detecting in Spain from Detecnicks https://www.detecnicks.co.uk/Spain.html

Welcome aboard...

 

[EngraverHand]

Thanks again! :-) Now I live permanently in Spain so I would not remove or take anything out of Spain again, but still I guess I should or would apply local authorities for permission, or where such permission should be sent. :-)

 

[TORRERO]

As I understand the laws and rules might be different from area to area and where I live it´s not allowed to go hunting with a detector on the beaches in Sitges, Barcelona due to the high amount of ancient coins on the beaches and they don't want tourists to grab them.. and are better where they are, in the sand I guess.

If I would go hunting on the beach, i would mainly be interested in the tourists losses rather than the ancient and precious metal.. not that it´s not interesting, but.. I will imagine it can be loads of fun things left behind by tourists.

I don't know if that is a law in Catalonia, Barcelona or a local law in Sitges where I live.. even though I like it or not, I´m not going to challenge the rules as I don't want any tickets, the gear taken or give the hobby a bad name. Anyone know more about rules in Catalonia/Barcelona or where to search for such rules?

Anyone know of any groups, clubs, organizations, pages or anything about metal detecting, especially in the Catalonia/Barcelona area? :-)

Marius

I'm American, and I lived in Spain for about 5 years off and on, in Andalucia, and I don't know about where you are at but I hunted almost every day somewhere in Spain, from the beaches to the campos, and there were hundreds of other doing it too. I don't know if the laws have changed since I was there, but I personally knew 10 to 15 other people, mostly Spanish who hunted, NOBODY EVER BOTHERED US ON THE BEACHES... I remember once on a beach in Puerto De St. Maria, outside Cadiz, where there was an old wall that was just there on the beach... we had hunted around there for years, never finding anything old, one day the Guardia Civil showed up and told us we couldn't hunt THAT beach because of the wall and archeological site or something... we left but almost fell over laughing because we hunted there for years and never found anything old...
I left Spain in 1996 for the last time, but I want to go back... Many beaches I remember were loaded with money..
I was there when they used Pesetas and not Euros... so it was a long time ago.
If your worried about the beaches, I wouldn't be.. my guise is the worst they can do is ask you to leave..
In Marbella one time we met a kind Police officer, we wasn't guardia civil, and he said they can't take your equipment without just cause...

I got stopped in the campo hunting for Roman stuff and early Napoleon stuff and they just told us to leave...
Yeah we were scared (me and my wife) but they didn't do anything. No ticket or anything..
Don't go to a specific archeological site, that's a NO NO... but we hunted farmers fields, most of the time without asking. and most of time nobody cared..

In 5 years, I might have found 5 old coins on the beaches from Chipiona, all the way to Malaga and Murcia everything else was coins, jewelry trash etc. In Spain everyone wears 18k gold, and now considering the prices I could make a GOOD living off scrap gold from the beaches there...

Unless they have just completely OUTLAWED it I'm not sure I wouldn't worry about it..
I've hunted beaches in Colombia South America, no problems, Peru, NP Costa Rica NP, everywhere I go I take my machine, I have never had anything confiscated or taken...

Just to tell you... if your really worried about the beaches, go down there around 5-6 PM and to a really busy beach, and watch and see if you see anyone else doing it.. Because when I was there, from 6-7pm until dark there were always 5-6 others walking around looking for stuff that was lost...
Good Luck !!

 

[EngraverHand]

I'm American, and I lived in Spain for about 5 years off and on, in Andalucia, and I don't know about where you are at but I hunted almost every day somewhere in Spain, from the beaches to the campos, and there were hundreds of other doing it too. I don't know if the laws have changed since I was there, but I personally knew 10 to 15 other people, mostly Spanish who hunted, NOBODY EVER BOTHERED US ON THE BEACHES... I remember once on a beach in Puerto De St. Maria, outside Cadiz, where there was an old wall that was just there on the beach... we had hunted around there for years, never finding anything old, one day the Guardia Civil showed up and told us we couldn't hunt THAT beach because of the wall and archeological site or something... we left but almost fell over laughing because we hunted there for years and never found anything old...
I left Spain in 1996 for the last time, but I want to go back... Many beaches I remember were loaded with money..
I was there when they used Pesetas and not Euros... so it was a long time ago.
If your worried about the beaches, I wouldn't be.. my guise is the worst they can do is ask you to leave..
In Marbella one time we met a kind Police officer, we wasn't guardia civil, and he said they can't take your equipment without just cause...

I got stopped in the campo hunting for Roman stuff and early Napoleon stuff and they just told us to leave...
Yeah we were scared (me and my wife) but they didn't do anything. No ticket or anything..
Don't go to a specific archeological site, that's a NO NO... but we hunted farmers fields, most of the time without asking. and most of time nobody cared..

In 5 years, I might have found 5 old coins on the beaches from Chipiona, all the way to Malaga and Murcia everything else was coins, jewelry trash etc. In Spain everyone wears 18k gold, and now considering the prices I could make a GOOD living off scrap gold from the beaches there...

Unless they have just completely OUTLAWED it I'm not sure I wouldn't worry about it..
I've hunted beaches in Colombia South America, no problems, Peru, NP Costa Rica NP, everywhere I go I take my machine, I have never had anything confiscated or taken...

Just to tell you... if your really worried about the beaches, go down there around 5-6 PM and to a really busy beach, and watch and see if you see anyone else doing it.. Because when I was there, from 6-7pm until dark there were always 5-6 others walking around looking for stuff that was lost...
Good Luck !!

Thank you very much for your reply! :-) I´m very new to this so I honestly dont know too much what to expect.. so I guess I´m just careful and starting slow, and sometimes I hear this and that and I guess just have to find my way trough slowly :-)

I´m thinking anyway to see if it´s possible to apply for a license.. I think Catalonia is pretty similar to Andalucia when it comes to laws and local rules. I think the laws especially near historic places can be strict, but I´m not sure anyone actually taking care of the laws.. I´m not going to talk politics, but I think the police should start taking more alcohol tests before people getting into their cars before jumping on hobby detectors :-) though I can understand they want to keep and preserve their history.

I have seen a couple of guys in my area, but I´m going to take a closer look when getting back to Spain.. first some digging in Norway :-)

Thanks again!

 

[TORRERO]

Thank you very much for your reply! :-) I´m very new to this so I honestly dont know too much what to expect.. so I guess I´m just careful and starting slow, and sometimes I hear this and that and I guess just have to find my way trough slowly :-)

I´m thinking anyway to see if it´s possible to apply for a license.. I think Catalonia is pretty similar to Andalucia when it comes to laws and local rules. I think the laws especially near historic places can be strict, but I´m not sure anyone actually taking care of the laws.. I´m not going to talk politics, but I think the police should start taking more alcohol tests before people getting into their cars before jumping on hobby detectors :-) though I can understand they want to keep and preserve their history.

I have seen a couple of guys in my area, but I´m going to take a closer look when getting back to Spain.. first some digging in Norway :-)

Thanks again!

My experience is from 1990-1996 but in those times, if we were caught by the Guardia Civil they would tell us to get the permiso de Cadiz, but if you actually tried to find out who in Cadiz could give you permission... well you could never find this person or office, because I believe it didn't actually exist.... So to be honest, take a brave heart and consider that in reality there may not be a "permission" to be had... this was pretty much exclusively for Campo hunting for old coins and relics, not for the beach... BUT although I heard a lot of people talk about it, NOBODY ever found out how to get that permission.... basically appearing to be just something someone says to stop you from doing what you want with your hobby..

Like I said, I wouldn't think twice about hunting a beach, almost anywhere in the free world, (I wouldn't try in Cuba for example) Machines have been around more than 50 years, and when I was young, they attracted a lot of attention, but today EVERYONE knows what they are and most people don't give them a second thought..
Even in School playgrounds with kids, the kids don't give me much attention anymore...

An experience I remember in Spain that WAS NOT common, but happened to me and my wife at the time, we would travel the coast of Andalucia between Cadiz and Gibraltar and hunt any public beach we could find to see what we could get...
One day we happened upon a "Semi Private" community along the coast, there was a guard box, but the guy didn't stop us from going in, It was a summer community with tons of people in the summer months but pretty much deserted in winter.... High cliffs overlooking the ocean, and long walkways to get to the beach..
First time there we went at night in the summer.. it was pitch black outside, and we walked the beach in total darkness just digging whatever we hit.. In 30 minutes we had 3-4 500 peseta coins and 2 watches, which was rare and we just knew it would be a good beach..
Later we went back in the winter, I started hunting the LOW tide line and X-wife hunted higher up towards the HIGH tide mark.. I wasn't getting much where I was, so I yelled up and asked if she was, which she said .. yes she had dug several coins up higher...
So I went up to where she was, and started getting signals.. TONS and TONS of signals... You couldn't swing your machine 5-6 inches without another signal...
It would turn out to be the MOST coins I have ever taken off a beach in my lifetime...
I estimate we got between 500-600 coins that day, 13 500 Pesetas, 200 cien, 5-6 200 pesetas and the rest in 50-25-10-5 they weren't really using 1 pesetas anymore ... the coins were Franco coins, and Juan Carlos coins,
We had to return to the car to empty our pockets because of weight 3 times..

We would return there many times in the next two years, never to the hoard we got the first time.. but always a lot of coins.. we also took several nice gold rings and things but mostly coins..
I still dream of doing that again, in 1995 there were no people on those beaches in the winter time..

The only time anyone even bothered us was if we tried to hunt a beach in the middle of the day, someone might ask us to leave because we were bothering people walking on the beach...
There were thousands of people on those beaches in the summertime, almost impossible to walk..

 

[sprailroad]

Marius,

Spanish Law re Metal Detecting:
We all know of detectorists going to Spain who take their metal detectors with them, to "do" the beaches. Most of them don't seem to have any problems, but they could!

If you consult with the Spanish Tourist Office in London their general information sheet states "The use of metal detectors is not allowed unless an import license for the detector has previously been issued. Further enquiries should be made to the Spanish Commercial Office. The Commercial Office in turn will provide the following info (in brief):

Because the use of metal detectors inherantly involves the finding of national heritage/archaeological/treasure trove items anything found by this method of recovery could be covered by the relevant law (Historical Heritage) of 25/06/1985 & Royal Decree of 10/01/1986. It would then be necessary to comply with the complex proceedures outlined in these enactments, making it highly unlikely that any item discovered could be removed from Spain. The consent if given can take several months and if of historical/artistic interest it would be unlikely.

Basically they are saying anything found should in theory go through the appropriate assessment, even current coinage!

There is further legislation unrelated to the historical /cultural aspect which could cause a detectorist problems. The metal detector being used may not comply with radiation safeguard legislation.

Finally if this hasn't put you off. There have be complaints from local Naval authorities that use of Metal Detectors interferes with electronic communications.

These problems relate to both land and beach detecting in Spain.

The official advise therefore, is that is preferable NOT to use metal detectors in Spain.

Source: Detecting in Spain from Detecnicks https://www.detecnicks.co.uk/Spain.html

Welcome aboard...

Sounds like this could be interchangeable between Spain and the United States. Sad but at times it seems to true.

 

[cudamark]

The laws should be in writing somewhere. I'd try to look them up and not go asking government officials. Most of them probably don't know what the law is either, and will just give their biased opinion.....which would probably be NO. After all, what incentive do they have to say YES? If they're wrong, it might mean their job. Talk to locals who detect, if you can find any, and get their take on it. Just as here in the U.S., there are laws, and realities. Ask State Park officials whether detecting is allowed and they will say no, when in reality, some State Parks couldn't care less if you detect there. As mentioned, most civilized countries without a corrupt police force will just tell you to cease detecting and leave. If that's the case there, I would detect until someone with legal authority tells you not to.

 

[EngraverHand]

Sounds like this could be interchangeable between Spain and the United States. Sad but at times it seems to true.

Now I´m living permanently in Spain and don´t have any plans to bring anything I find out of Spain nor really into grabbing old historic items. I dont know if it´s something that has become worse, better or stayed the same.

 

[EngraverHand]

My experience is from 1990-1996 but in those times, if we were caught by the Guardia Civil they would tell us to get the permiso de Cadiz, but if you actually tried to find out who in Cadiz could give you permission... well you could never find this person or office, because I believe it didn't actually exist.... So to be honest, take a brave heart and consider that in reality there may not be a "permission" to be had... this was pretty much exclusively for Campo hunting for old coins and relics, not for the beach... BUT although I heard a lot of people talk about it, NOBODY ever found out how to get that permission.... basically appearing to be just something someone says to stop you from doing what you want with your hobby..

Like I said, I wouldn't think twice about hunting a beach, almost anywhere in the free world, (I wouldn't try in Cuba for example) Machines have been around more than 50 years, and when I was young, they attracted a lot of attention, but today EVERYONE knows what they are and most people don't give them a second thought..
Even in School playgrounds with kids, the kids don't give me much attention anymore...

An experience I remember in Spain that WAS NOT common, but happened to me and my wife at the time, we would travel the coast of Andalucia between Cadiz and Gibraltar and hunt any public beach we could find to see what we could get...
One day we happened upon a "Semi Private" community along the coast, there was a guard box, but the guy didn't stop us from going in, It was a summer community with tons of people in the summer months but pretty much deserted in winter.... High cliffs overlooking the ocean, and long walkways to get to the beach..
First time there we went at night in the summer.. it was pitch black outside, and we walked the beach in total darkness just digging whatever we hit.. In 30 minutes we had 3-4 500 peseta coins and 2 watches, which was rare and we just knew it would be a good beach..
Later we went back in the winter, I started hunting the LOW tide line and X-wife hunted higher up towards the HIGH tide mark.. I wasn't getting much where I was, so I yelled up and asked if she was, which she said .. yes she had dug several coins up higher...
So I went up to where she was, and started getting signals.. TONS and TONS of signals... You couldn't swing your machine 5-6 inches without another signal...
It would turn out to be the MOST coins I have ever taken off a beach in my lifetime...
I estimate we got between 500-600 coins that day, 13 500 Pesetas, 200 cien, 5-6 200 pesetas and the rest in 50-25-10-5 they weren't really using 1 pesetas anymore ... the coins were Franco coins, and Juan Carlos coins,
We had to return to the car to empty our pockets because of weight 3 times..

We would return there many times in the next two years, never to the hoard we got the first time.. but always a lot of coins.. we also took several nice gold rings and things but mostly coins..
I still dream of doing that again, in 1995 there were no people on those beaches in the winter time..

The only time anyone even bothered us was if we tried to hunt a beach in the middle of the day, someone might ask us to leave because we were bothering people walking on the beach...
There were thousands of people on those beaches in the summertime, almost impossible to walk..

Yea I have heard about.. or actually experienced the Spanish bureaucracy.. some office that nobody knows exists hehe :-) I can imagine back in the days no one really knew what to do or handle the laws or if it has changed the last 10 - 20 years.. but I can imagine some restrictions has been made if the popularity has grown a lot.. but sounds like wonderful days :-)

I know places I for sure would not disturb anyone.. but for sure would not be full of things, but I have never seen anyone with a detector there. I have a workshop close.. we´ll see.. I take it slow and see what happens :-)

Thanks for your reply.. I´m sure I will find some places to have fun and get some fres air :-)

 

[EngraverHand]

The laws should be in writing somewhere. I'd try to look them up and not go asking government officials. Most of them probably don't know what the law is either, and will just give their biased opinion.....which would probably be NO. After all, what incentive do they have to say YES? If they're wrong, it might mean their job. Talk to locals who detect, if you can find any, and get their take on it. Just as here in the U.S., there are laws, and realities. Ask State Park officials whether detecting is allowed and they will say no, when in reality, some State Parks couldn't care less if you detect there. As mentioned, most civilized countries without a corrupt police force will just tell you to cease detecting and leave. If that's the case there, I would detect until someone with legal authority tells you not to.

My thought that someone will say yes is that I will gladly give back everything older than 100 years old, or even less.. that I find or everything that can remind off something that should belong to the government. Better to give it back for them to preserve than some tourist putting it in the pocket.. Also, at the same time, I would collect all the tins, beer caps, chocolate paper and all other trash I find on the beach and actually put it in the trash.. including plastic. Doesnt hurt to try, and if they say no, no one will know it was me asking anyway.. :-)

 

[TORRERO]

My thought that someone will say yes is that I will gladly give back everything older than 100 years old, or even less.. that I find or everything that can remind off something that should belong to the government. Better to give it back for them to preserve than some tourist putting it in the pocket.. Also, at the same time, I would collect all the tins, beer caps, chocolate paper and all other trash I find on the beach and actually put it in the trash.. including plastic. Doesn't hurt to try, and if they say no, no one will know it was me asking anyway.. :-)

I can tell you that if you are planning on hunting the beach exclusively then that ain't going to happen, the only time I found old stuff on the beach around Rota was when there was really big storms in the winter pounding the beaches, tons of corrosion and then we found some 8 real cobs, and earlier coins, but stiff like that is always in really poor condition because its been in salt water for 300 years... Gold is a different thing, no matter how old, it will look like Gold...
But like I dug a pocket watch case that was clearly old, and made of 18-22k gold but had no marking on it so I sold it for scrap... how do you determine what you will turn in that's more than 100 years old ?? That scrap of lead that could be Roman ? and you know that nobody is going to want that... because you don't jajaja 🤣

 

[cudamark]

My thought that someone will say yes is that I will gladly give back everything older than 100 years old, or even less.. that I find or everything that can remind off something that should belong to the government. Better to give it back for them to preserve than some tourist putting it in the pocket.. Also, at the same time, I would collect all the tins, beer caps, chocolate paper and all other trash I find on the beach and actually put it in the trash.. including plastic. Doesnt hurt to try, and if they say no, no one will know it was me asking anyway.. :-)

You can still donate anything you find regardless if you have official permission or not. I've just found that asking permission from bored (or corrupt) officials is counter-productive. It indicates to them there is some reason that you NEED permission. I'd rather they didn't know I exist and if they casually spot me, maybe they won't give me a second thought. If more people keep asking them, the more we come up on their radar. Sooner or later, some archie or busy-body will try to prevent all detecting because of this attention. I'd prefer to put them back to sleep.

 

[Vagadero]

Regulations in Spain and Catalonia may vary.

The best to reach out to the ajuntament for clarification. Asking the local a museum is also a good idea. It is not uncommon for museums to collaborate with hobby detectorists in some counties

For more information on the legality of metal detectors in Catalonia, please check out the following links:

Legislación detectores de metales en Catalunya - DetectordeMetales.eu

En lo referente a la legislación detectores de metales en Catalunya lo primero que debemos aclarar es que en todo momento la normativa que prevalece en lo

detectordemetales.eu

Todo lo que necesitas saber sobre los detectores de metales: ¿Son legales en las playas de Cataluña? | ESLEGAL.info

Índice ¿Es legal utilizar detectores de metales en las playas de Cataluña?…

eslegal.info

 

[EngraverHand]

I can tell you that if you are planning on hunting the beach exclusively then that ain't going to happen, the only time I found old stuff on the beach around Rota was when there was really big storms in the winter pounding the beaches, tons of corrosion and then we found some 8 real cobs, and earlier coins, but stiff like that is always in really poor condition because its been in salt water for 300 years... Gold is a different thing, no matter how old, it will look like Gold...
But like I dug a pocket watch case that was clearly old, and made of 18-22k gold but had no marking on it so I sold it for scrap... how do you determine what you will turn in that's more than 100 years old ?? That scrap of lead that could be Roman ? and you know that nobody is going to want that... because you don't jajaja 🤣

I don´t think I´m going to hunt anywhere exclusively.. Very new to this and it was just a thought. :-) I´m not really a collector of old stuff, or new for that matter.. main reason I got a detector is it was part of a paiment for an engraving job I did, and I always thought it was fun finding stuff.. new or old, fake or real.. and to get more fresh air. I´m spending 10 - 12 hours a day watching in a microscope and love to be lazy drinking coffee on the terrace.. so if it can get me out, digging and get some walking and finding something I´m all good.. :-) What I hope to gain mostly is fun and a little better health :-)

 

[EngraverHand]

You can still donate anything you find regardless if you have official permission or not. I've just found that asking permission from bored (or corrupt) officials is counter-productive. It indicates to them there is some reason that you NEED permission. I'd rather they didn't know I exist and if they casually spot me, maybe they won't give me a second thought. If more people keep asking them, the more we come up on their radar. Sooner or later, some archie or busy-body will try to prevent all detecting because of this attention. I'd prefer to put them back to sleep.

That is a very good point! :-) I probably will stick to that..

 

[EngraverHand]

Regulations in Spain and Catalonia may vary.

The best to reach out to the ajuntament for clarification. Asking the local a museum is also a good idea. It is not uncommon for museums to collaborate with hobby detectorists in some counties

For more information on the legality of metal detectors in Catalonia, please check out the following links:

Legislación detectores de metales en Catalunya - DetectordeMetales.eu

En lo referente a la legislación detectores de metales en Catalunya lo primero que debemos aclarar es que en todo momento la normativa que prevalece en lo

detectordemetales.eu

Todo lo que necesitas saber sobre los detectores de metales: ¿Son legales en las playas de Cataluña? | ESLEGAL.info

Índice ¿Es legal utilizar detectores de metales en las playas de Cataluña?…

eslegal.info

Not a bad idea either! :-) We know some locals working in a museum.. doesnt hurt to talk with them. I let my wife read the link when I´m back in spain.. my spanish isnt that good yet, but thanks a lot! :-)

 

[TORRERO]

Incredibly I found some pictures of the beaches in Spain when we had those storms, this is where I got some 8 reals and a lot of different stuff, mostly sold and gone now..

Also some Roman Coins from Spain, (all pictures are 25+ years old)
Also some of the Jewelry we dug on those beaches in the summertime..
I'm still looking for a picture I had of the piles of coins we dug on that beach I mentioned earlier..

 

[EngraverHand]

Very cool to see your finds! :-) Always fun to see and I can´t wait to get out and get soil under my finger nails again.. I really enjoy the overdose of fresh air the last few days :-)

 

[Dava_UA]

Fantastic! Thank you lot for the useful information! Greetings from Barcelona. I am actually moving there soon, so I am trying to gather information on MD policy here. After dealing with Polish rules and regulations (basically a sin #1) I am little disappointed.