What is a cédula urbanística, and how is it different from the Catastro and the nota simple?
They are three documents from three different authorities.
The cédula urbanística comes from the town hall. Madrid's bylaw calls it the document that certifies the planning regime and circumstances of a property, sector, plot or building site (Bylaw 6/2022, art. 14). In Andalusia it reports the planning position of a specific piece of land, plot, site or building (LISTA Regulation, art. 3). Other councils call it an informe urbanístico or a certificado de régimen urbanístico. Ask in writing for the rules on that plot; a chat at the counter proves nothing.
The Catastro describes the property for tax: location, reference, area, use, buildings, value and the person recorded as holder. Its data are presumed correct unless proven otherwise, but the Land Registry prevails on legal questions (Cadastre Act, art. 3). To read the reference, see the guide to the cadastral reference.
The nota simple comes from the Land Registry. It shows the registered owner and the recorded charges, and it is for information only (Mortgage Act, art. 222). How to get and read one: nota simple.
You are entitled to the planning information on a property in writing, within a reasonable time and on the terms set by regional and local rules (TRLSRU, art. 5). You do not have to be the owner.
What do I need to send?
The name of the procedure changes from town to town, but the basics are the same: your identity, the cadastral reference, a plan or sketch with the plot marked and, if you know it, one plain sentence on what you want to do (a family house, an extension, a change of use).
In Madrid you apply online through the municipal licensing system (SLIM), with an electronic ID and signature. Attach:
- a plan at 1:500 or 1:1000 on the Madrid Digital Map, downloadable from the city's Geoportal, with the plot outlined;
- proof of payment of the fee, which you self-assess beforehand in a separate procedure. On that form the property is identified by the first 18 characters of the cadastral reference.
If something is missing, the town hall will give you ten days to complete it, warning that otherwise your application will be treated as withdrawn (Law 39/2015, art. 68). Keep the registration receipt: deadlines run from the date the application enters the electronic register of the authority handling it (art. 21).
In Andalusia, unless the council has set its own content, the cédula must state at least the applicable plans with their amendments, suspensions and legal challenges, the land class, the rules on use, building rights, servicing and construction, whether the plot is a serviced building site, and whether proceedings to restore planning legality have been opened (LISTA Regulation, art. 3). The guide on what you can build has request wording you can adapt.
How much does it cost?
There is no national fee. Each town hall sets its own in its tax bylaw, and some charge nothing.
In Madrid, each cédula costs €87.25 (Tax Bylaw 10/2023, art. 11, in its 2026 version). You self-assess and pay online by card or at a partner bank, and the payment is provisional, on account of the final assessment. A planning enquiry, a planning report and a planning certificate are separate services with their own fees in articles 8 to 10 of the same bylaw.
In Marbella, the 2026 tax bylaw on issuing documents charges €102.70 for a cédula urbanística and €41.08 for a report on the characteristics of land or an enquiry about building (art. 6). The fee falls due when you apply and nothing is processed until it is paid (art. 7).
Elsewhere, look up the current tax bylaw on the town hall's online office or in the provincial gazette. The fee covers the council's document only, not an architect's study or approvals from the coastal authority, the river basin authority or environmental bodies.
How long does the town hall take?
The rules for the procedure decide. Where they set no deadline, Law 39/2015 gives three months, and rules below the level of a statute cannot go beyond six (art. 21).
- Madrid: the cédula must be issued within one month of the application reaching the town hall's register (Bylaw 6/2022, art. 14).
- Andalusia: one month at most, or less if a local bylaw says so, from entry in the electronic register. If the month passes with no answer, that does not count as a favourable reply (LISTA Regulation, art. 3).
There are no official figures on real waiting times at each office. If you sign a deposit contract (arras) while you wait, agree in writing what happens if the answer is late or unfavourable. Applying for a cédula does not by itself let you recover the deposit; see how to word that condition in the guide to the arras contract.
How long is it valid?
- Madrid: the information speaks as of the date of issue and holds while the plans or implementing instruments affecting the property do not change, and while its development rights and charges stay as they were when it was issued (Bylaw 6/2022, art. 14).
- Andalusia: it is for information only, does not bind the authority, and holds while the planning it relies on stays in force, for six months from issue at most (LISTA Regulation, art. 3).
If time has passed or the plan is under review, ask for a new one before you pay anything.
What the cédula does not tell you
It sets out the planning rules the town hall applies to the property. It does not complete your checks.
- It does not prove who owns the land or what charges it carries: the Land Registry does that.
- It does not correct boundaries or the area.
- It is not a licence or a declaración responsable, and it is not the occupancy certificate (cédula de habitabilidad), which concerns a house already built; see the first occupation licence.
Nor does it replace decisions made by other authorities: the coastal boundary and its easements (Coastal Law), flood zones or Natura 2000. The town hall may mention some of these if they are in its files; silence on them does not prove they are absent.
While you wait, you can get ahead with public sources, such as the land class in the SIU viewer. That helps you ask better questions, but the answer that counts is the town hall's.