Trees on a villa plot: protected species, felling permit and fines

Do you need a permit to fell a tree on a private plot?

Most often yes: either a licence or a notice to the council, and for protected trees felling is simply forbidden. There is no single rule for all of Catalonia; the ordinance of your ayuntamiento sets it, and next to woodland the Generalitat's forest regime also steps in. So the order is: a written question to the municipality first, the chainsaw second.

A plot in Barcelona, Castelldefels or Sant Cugat means three different systems. Barcelona keeps a catalogue of trees of local interest: it includes specimens on streets and in private gardens, and the city's page says they may never be removed. In other municipalities the procedure for ordinary trees differs and the details sit in local ordinances. I am not quoting trunk girths or deadlines, because they change from town to town.

Which trees are protected in Catalonia?

Protection works on three levels: monumental trees declared by the Generalitat, local catalogues and the forest regime. Which one applies to your land only shows in the documents.

First level: monumental trees and groves declared by the Generalitat (specific decrees from 1987 to 1989). There are few and they are usually well known. Second level: municipal catalogues of trees of local interest. Barcelona selects specimens by rarity, beauty, history, age and size, and the city council decides. The catalogue includes trees, palms and shrubs, also in private gardens, and a new owner sometimes learns about it only when checking the plot. Third level: land classed as forest, where the Catalan forestry law (Llei 6/1988) and a separate decree on uprooting trees and shrubs (Decret 242/2015) apply.

There is also a fourth, indirect protection: a tree in the garden of a building that is on the protected heritage list may then belong to the protected ensemble. It is checked with the same enquiries as the protection of the house; there is a separate article on the planning status of a building in Barcelona.

How do you file the application with the council?

The application starts with three questions: what category the land is (urban, rural, forest), whether the tree is on a catalogue and whether a licence is needed or a notice is enough. The answer comes from the council's green spaces or planning department. In Barcelona that is Parcs i Jardins; in Castelldefels and Sant Cugat it is usually the green spaces or planning department. You write to it before submitting the project.

What to gather. A land registry extract and a site plan with the tree marked. Photos of the whole tree and of the trunk, species, height, trunk girth at chest height (1.3 m). The reason: disease, lean and risk of falling, conflict with a structure, roots under the foundation. A report from an arborist or technician confirming it: without one refusal is more likely. A compensation proposal: usually planting a new tree or paying the value of the felled one.

If the felling is tied to construction, the application goes in with the project, not separately. The layout of the house and pool can often be solved so that the tree stays, and moving the building 3 or 4 metres is cheaper than arguing with the council. Do not start work before a written reply: a verbal yes at the counter does not protect against a fine. If you live abroad, the whole process can be run by a representative under a power of attorney; there is a separate article on how to set that up.

What changes if the plot is next to woodland or in Collserola?

Next to woodland the rules are tougher: the municipality is not the only decision-maker, the Generalitat's agriculture department is too. Forest land falls under the Catalan forestry law. Harvesting timber for your own use on private forest land must be notified in advance to the Generalitat if there is no approved forest management plan; the procedure covers up to 2 tonnes of timber or 12 tonnes of firewood for domestic use and carries no fee (procedure page on tramits.gencat.cat). Selling timber follows a separate commercial procedure.

Urbanisations near forest also come under the fire prevention law (Llei 5/2003). In practice that means clearance strips around the house and limits on work during the summer fire-risk season. For a villa in Collserola, Valldoreix or on the Garraf slopes, the first call goes to the ayuntamiento and the rural agent (Agents Rurals) for your area, not to the crew.

One practical conclusion. If you buy a plot with pines and want to "clear" it before the project, find out the land category first. Clearing in a forest zone without notification counts as unauthorised work, even if the pines are yours.

How do you protect a tree during construction?

The main rule: roots matter more than the crown. A tree usually dies not on the day of the works but one to three years later, from damaged roots and compacted soil. Protection is cheap; losing the tree is expensive.

What we do on site. Before demolition we set up a rigid fence around the root zone: the guide is the crown projection or a radius of about twelve trunk diameters, and inside it nothing is stored and nothing drives. The trunk is boarded without nails into the bark. Service trenches are routed outside the root zone; if that is impossible they are dug by hand or with air excavation, and roots thicker than 3 to 5 cm are not cut without an arborist's report. Ground level next to the trunk is not changed: 20 to 30 cm of fill suffocates the roots. Concrete wash water and mortar are not poured nearby. In dry summer weeks the tree is watered, because the works have already taken part of its roots.

The contract with the contractor lists the trees to keep, with photos at the start and the replacement cost if one dies. The before photos serve as evidence for both the council and the insurer. The positions of the house, pool, driveway and excavation are checked against the trees at design stage, while the line can still be moved without redoing anything.

What are the fines for felling without permission?

Amounts are set by the municipal ordinance, not by a general law, and I am not quoting them. The principle is similar everywhere: a fine plus an obligation to restore. Councils often assess the damage by the value of the tree using a tree valuation method (in Spain the Norma Granada is used), and for a mature specimen with a large crown the figure can be considerable. Besides the fine, replacement planting is required and works on the plot can be halted.

Two situations are worse than the rest. First: the felled tree was on a catalogue or on forest land. The offence is then treated as more serious, and the contractor's liability is added to the fine. Second: the tree was felled before the sale or purchase and the paperwork appears later. The new owner answers for the state of the plot, and the argument "the previous owner did it" is settled with documents, not words.

A contractor who agrees to "just cut a couple of pines" without a written permit leaves you exposed. The crew leaves and the fine reaches the owner. Insist on a separate contract line: who obtains the permit, in whose name, and that the crew does not touch trees without it.

How BCN YARD handles trees on the plot

We start with a survey and measurements: every tree on the plot is recorded on the plan and in photos before the first line of the design is drawn. If a tree is in the way of the house, pool or driveway, we first propose moving the element, and only then apply for the permit through an independent technical specialist who signs the documents.

Our own crew protects the roots as described, and the person responsible for the site makes sure nobody enters the fenced zone. Payment is under contract, in stages: earthworks are a separate stage, and you see what is happening to the trees before the excavation is closed. We run projects in Russian and Spanish; correspondence with the ayuntamiento can be kept in Spanish on your behalf or passed to you for decisions. We reply to an enquiry within an hour.