Metal Detecting Laws in Andorra

Andorra requires prior cultural authorization and qualified technical direction for detector searches aimed at archaeological or paleontological remains. That rule applies even without digging. A general rule for searching only for modern lost items could not be confirmed, so this guide does not establish permission for an ordinary hobby outing.

The rules, land by land

Even where detecting is allowed, archaeological and historic sites are protected, and you must fill every hole and follow posted rules. Always confirm the current rule with the land manager.

Detecting beyond Andorra? We cover 207 more countries rule by rule too. See the world map →

Open data: every rule in our Andorra guide, with its quote, source and check date, free to reuse (CC BY-SA 4.0). Download the data →

The national search rule

The Llei 9/2003, del 12 de juny, del patrimoni cultural d’Andorra (Andorra’s cultural heritage law) requires prior authorization from the ministry responsible for culture for interventions intended to discover or investigate archaeological or paleontological remains. Article 24 covers prospecting and other interventions with or without moving soil.

The Reglament, del 15 de desembre del 2010, d’activitats arqueològiques i paleontològiques (archaeological and paleontological activities regulation) explicitly includes metal detectors in prospecting for those remains. Articles 5–7 require qualified technical direction, an applicant engaged in archaeological or paleontological activity, an intervention project, and the landowner’s authorization. The authorization specifies its term.

These are purpose-specific search rules. The captured sources do not establish a universal prohibition on hobby detectors, or a general right to search and dig for modern losses. Protected places, land access, and recovery methods still need their own checks.

Protected monuments and archaeological zones

At protected monuments, archaeological or paleontological zones, and their protection surroundings, article 14(1) requires cultural authorization for any work or intervention. That covers digging to recover a target, regardless of whether the work is publicly or privately promoted. The provision does not separately address sweeping alone. A search for archaeological or paleontological remains also follows the professional authorization rules described above.

Article 14(5) provides a conditional three-month procedure under which a works application may be treated as granted if no express refusal is issued. It requires the relevant documentation to be submitted to both the parish council and culture ministry, and compliance with urban-planning law. The 2014 amendment also preserves the earlier rules and declarations for properties already protected when it took effect, subject to its transitional qualifications. Check the applicable declaration and procedure before relying on an authorization.

Parks and nature reserves

The Llei 7/2019, del 7 de febrer, de conservació del medi natural, de la biodiversitat i del paisatge (nature, biodiversity, and landscape conservation law) adds protections alongside the archaeological search rules. Under articles 33–35, each park or reserve’s rules and management plan determine permitted, authorizable, and nonpermitted uses. Uses that endanger the area or its elements are nonpermitted.

Article 22 distinguishes integral reserves, where intervention unrelated to science is incompatible with protection, from partial reserves, which can also accommodate education and traditional uses necessary to preserve the values being protected. Article 18(3) prohibits destroying, altering, or degrading geological-interest sites.

Cultural authorization does not waive those protections. A general entitlement to detect for modern lost items in parks or reserves could not be confirmed; this guide does not establish permission under an individual protected-area plan.

Public forests

Archaeological detector searches in public forests require the same prior cultural authorization and qualified direction. Nature-conservation law article 36 also requires each parish council to prepare a communal forest-management plan and makes forest activities dependent on that plan. The transitional provision permits councils to carry out conservation activities pending the plan.

No separate entitlement to search for modern lost items in public forests was confirmed. Check the applicable forest plan and access conditions; the archaeological authorization is not general permission to detect or dig there.

Private land and other public land

For archaeological or paleontological work on private land, the regulation requires the landowner’s authorization as part of the application. The owner’s agreement does not replace cultural authorization, and cultural authorization does not itself give a private applicant access to someone else’s land. A general modern-lost-item detecting rule remains unresolved.

The Llei 14/2023, del 3 de juliol, de text consolidat del Codi de l’Administració (consolidated Administrative Code) distinguishes ordinary, special, and exclusive uses of public property. Special public use may need a license; exclusive occupation needs the relevant permit or concession, and communal property has its own concession rule. Article 92 penalizes intentional or negligent damage to public-domain property and requires repair or restitution.

Those public-property provisions do not specifically classify hobby detecting. Archaeological searches on other public land still require the national cultural authorization. No military-land detecting entitlement was confirmed.

Shorelines, lakes, and rivers

The archaeological search rule applies along shorelines and in inland waters. The regulation covers aquatic and underwater remains, and article 5(2)(c) requires an appropriate diving qualification for participants in underwater interventions. No separate general permission to detect or recover modern lost items along shorelines or in inland waters was confirmed.

Who owns archaeological finds?

Under heritage law article 26, the products of archaeological or paleontological interventions and chance finds of archaeological or paleontological goods belong to the public domain. They must be made available to the ministry responsible for culture.

For chance finds, the finder and landowner are each entitled to one quarter of the value. Multiple finders share the finder’s quarter; multiple owners share the owner’s quarter. Finds resulting from authorized or unlawful archaeological or paleontological interventions are not chance finds. Archaeological architectural structures are excluded from this ownership-and-compensation regime, but their discovery must be reported.

Reporting heritage finds: separate duties

Article 26 requires covered finds to be put at the culture ministry’s disposal and separately requires notification of discovered archaeological architectural structures. It sets no fixed reporting deadline.

When archaeological or paleontological remains appear during works, article 25 requires the promoter, builder, and works director to stop at the first indication and notify the culture ministry immediately.

For an authorized archaeological or paleontological intervention, regulation article 12(3) requires the intervention director to notify the Àrea de Gestió de l’Activitat Arqueològica i Paleontològica (archaeological and paleontological activity management area, AGAAP) of any relevant find within 48 hours. That deadline belongs to the authorized-intervention duty; it is not a general 48-hour deadline for chance finds.

Ordinary lost money and belongings

The Llei 31/2021, del 22 de novembre, de text consolidat qualificada de seguretat pública (consolidated public security law) has a separate rule for ordinary lost property. Article 34 requires you to return money or movable goods to their owner. If the owner is unknown, deposit the find with the police within 72 hours. This applies in public and private spaces.

If police inquiries do not identify the owner and six months have passed since deposit, half of found money goes to the finder only if expressly requested; the other half goes to the Government. A public employee who found it while carrying out official duties receives no share.

Movable goods with appreciable economic value are auctioned, and the proceeds follow that split. Goods without appreciable economic value may be disposed of under article 34(2)(b). Finding an ordinary lost object does not let you simply keep it.

Buried treasure and remaining gaps

A separate ownership rule for non-archaeological buried treasure could not be confirmed. Archaeological finds, ordinary lost property, and vacant property have distinct provisions. Administrative Code article 76 assigns vacant property to the State through a civil-court declaration procedure; these sources do not establish a finder’s share for every buried object.

The other unresolved questions include general detecting solely for modern losses, permission under individual forest or protected-area plans, and military-land access. Before planning an outing, ask the relevant landowner or manager about access and recovery, and the culture ministry if the search concerns archaeological or paleontological remains.

Which legal versions were checked?

The captured heritage-law status table identifies the compilation effective September 18, 2014, and the nature-conservation table identifies the version effective May 6, 2023. The Administrative Code table identifies the version effective June 4, 2026. The original heritage text, the relevant captured amendments, and the 2010 archaeology regulation are included in the source record.

For ordinary lost property, this guide uses the public-security version effective February 27, 2024. Its status table also lists a version effective December 13, 2026, which is still in the future on the October 12, 2026 check date. The corresponding amendment in the captured Llei 18/2026, del 15 de juliol, qualificada del Codi penal (Penal Code) concerns public-security article 51, not the quoted article 34 lost-property rule.

The legal portal labels its compiled texts as having no official character. This review establishes the contents of the captured versions; it does not establish that no other or later instrument applies.

Find more, remember where

Download LuckyFind — free for iPhone and Android — to track your routes, log your finds, and keep your permitted spots organized.