The Alt Empordà, home to 146,766 people (2024) across 68 municipalities with Figueres as its capital, is where the airtightness of the Passivhaus standard delivers the most: the tramuntana, a strong, cold, dry north wind that blows some 70 days a year, makes controlling infiltration the variable that governs a home's comfort and energy cost. Our experience across Catalonia applies directly to the Empordà plain and the coast.
The Alt Empordà is the northern Costa Brava comarca, with Figueres (49,689 inhabitants in 2025) as its capital and a residential fabric that combines primary homes in the inland towns with a strongly marked international second-home component tied to the coast. Roses and Cadaqués concentrate much of the demand for new second-home build, while Figueres holds a more stable primary-residence market.
The climate is defined by the tramuntana: a strong, cold, dry north wind that blows persistently, some 70 days a year and especially from November to March, and punishes the building envelope. Gusts routinely top 100 km/h at Figueres and can approach 200 km/h at the Cap de Creus and Portbou. On the coast, summers are hot and dry, and the salinity of the sea air adds a further demand on materials. In this context, airtightness is exactly where the Passivhaus standard offers the clearest return: a highly insulated, airtight envelope controls wind-driven infiltration, cuts losses and keeps thermal comfort stable even with the tramuntana blowing.
Building well in the Alt Empordà also means respecting a protected landscape and historic centres of great value. The comarca is home to the Parc Natural del Cap de Creus, Catalonia's first maritime-terrestrial park (Law 4/1998, about 13,886 ha), and the Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l'Empordà (Law 21/1983, about 4,722 ha). Landscape integration and compliance with regulations shape the project from the first sketch, and that is central to how we work.
The Alt Empordà shares landscape protection, natural areas and historic centres that shape building across much of the territory.
The 68 towns of the Alt Empordà have planning instruments (POUM or subsidiary rules) with a heavy weight of non-developable land and landscape protection. The consolidated version can be consulted in the Catalan Urban Planning Registry (RPUC) and on each council's planning portal.
Residential building is concentrated in the towns' urban land and in consolidated coastal developments. Buildability, occupancy and height parameters vary widely by sector, with specific conditions on colour integration and materials in many centres, especially in the protected historic cores.
The Parc Natural del Cap de Creus, Catalonia's first maritime-terrestrial park under Law 4/1998 and covering about 13,886 ha, spans eight municipalities in the comarca, among them Cadaqués, Roses, Llançà and el Port de la Selva. The Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l'Empordà, protected by Law 21/1983 and covering about 4,722 ha on the plain between the Muga and Fluvià rivers, extends across nine municipalities with Castelló d'Empúries as the largest share. Both shape non-developable land across several municipalities, and the comarca's historic centres have their own heritage protection regimes that must be verified case by case.
A major works licence follows the standard Catalan procedure. Indicative resolution times run between 8 and 16 weeks from complete documentary submission, with extensions possible on plots affected by landscape, heritage or protected natural areas.
We have the technical and logistical capacity to work across the whole comarca. We do not yet have a dedicated page for every town in the Alt Empordà.
It makes a great deal of sense. The tramuntana blows some 70 days a year, with gusts topping 100 km/h at Figueres, and drives air infiltration in conventional homes: that is exactly what the airtightness of the Passivhaus standard controls. A highly insulated, airtight envelope holds comfort stable with the wind blowing and cuts the energy losses the tramuntana amplifies.
We work across the whole of the Alt Empordà and its 68 municipalities. Our head office is in Sant Cugat and we have the technical and logistical capacity to reach Figueres, Roses, Cadaqués, Castelló d'Empúries, l'Escala, Llançà and the rest of the comarca's towns.
Yes. The salinity of the sea air on the coast requires a careful choice of durable materials and joinery, and the envelope design takes exposure to wind and sun into account. The Passivhaus standard is fully compatible with these demands, and the airtightness performance holds over time.
Yes. The Passivhaus standard is an energy-performance requirement, not an architectural style. It is fully compatible with the composition rules and materials that the comarca's protected historic centres require, and it integrates without altering their appearance.
Resolution usually runs between 8 and 16 weeks from complete documentary submission, with extensions possible on plots affected by landscape, heritage or protected natural areas such as the Parc Natural del Cap de Creus (Law 4/1998) or the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà (Law 21/1983).
Whether you have a plot in Figueres, in a coastal development in Roses or l'Escala, or in a protected historic centre, we can support you from day one with the technical knowledge of the tramuntana climate and the landscape sensitivity the territory demands.