It depends on the region, because Spain leaves this to its autonomous communities. In Andalusia, which includes the Costa del Sol, a private person may not use a metal detector at all; on most ordinary beaches in the Valencia region no permit is needed; in Catalonia, the Balearics and the Canaries the rules are drawn around archaeology and protected ground.
Town halls can add their own beach rules on top, and anything you find that belongs to someone else has to be handed back.
Spain's heritage law, Ley 16/1985, says in Article 42 that every archaeological excavation or survey needs the express authorisation of the competent administration. It never names metal detectors. Those appear in the regional laws, which is where the real answer sits.
Article 60 of Andalusia's heritage law, Ley 14/2007, prohibits the use of metal detectors except in authorised archaeological work. Beyond that it allows them only to a short list of professionals who are not looking for anything old: defence, the police, electricity, water, gas and telecoms companies, and authorised mining firms. Looking for a lost ring is not on the list. That covers the Costa del Sol, the Costa de la Luz and the Almería coast.
Ley 4/1998 requires a permit from the regional culture department for using a detector. Since a circular of March 2021, ordinary coastal beaches are exempt, except those listed in the region's archaeological register or within 100 metres of one. The list is public and includes every beach in Dénia and stretches of Xàbia, Calp, Altea and Alicante. Cliffs, rocks and everything off the beach still need a permit, and anything archaeological that turns up must be handed in within 48 hours.
Lost a ring there? What to do on the Costa Blanca, beach by beach, including a town that bans detectors on its sand.
Owning a detector needs no permit. Using one to find or study archaeological or palaeontological remains counts as an archaeological intervention and needs the prior authorisation of the Departament de Cultura, and that includes catalogued sites on the coast. The Departament's page says nothing about searching a beach for fun, and neither will we.
Article 25 of Ley 12/1998 bans metal detectors on anything that forms part of the islands' historic heritage, except research teams with the island council's permission. A beach is not heritage just by being a beach, but catalogued stretches are, and towns add their own rules. The detail is on our Mallorca page.
Workable. The Canary heritage law, Ley 11/2019, does not mention detectors; what it controls is archaeology. Protected dunes such as Maspalomas and Corralejo, catalogued sites and protected natural spaces are off limits, and town beach rules can go further. Island by island: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura.
Under Article 615 of the Civil Code, whoever finds something that is not theirs must return it to the owner or hand it in at the town hall.
Retrievly is a platform that connects people who have lost a ring in the sand with metal detectorists nearby, and posting is free. The person who goes out answers for the local rules, so name the beach when you post: a local searcher knows whether it is protected. In Andalusia the honest answer is that nobody may search with a detector. More on who can help: Who can find my lost ring?
This is not legal advice, and these rules change. The official sources are the regional heritage laws on boe.es, your region's culture department and, for a single beach, the town hall's beach bylaw.
Browsing needs no account. You only sign in to post.
Kenny built Retrievly. He has snorkelled the Danube for years and keeps bringing up things that belong to other people: wallets with the ID still in them, phones, keys. That is where Retrievly came from.
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