This paper reviews the problems of urban planning in small Spanish rural municipalities. It begins with a first general analysis of the poor situation of urban planning in them, focusing on the absence of instruments in many municipalities and the obsolescence of the existing ones in many others, as well as the deficiencies in the conception of these instruments in the regional regulations. The main part presents twelve characteristic urban problems in these municipalities, illustrated through different representative examples. These include the decline of rural areas and traditional construction, the inadequacy of the legal criteria for classifying Urban Land and the treatment of borders, the lack of intervention and management mechanisms in the land market, the deficiencies in the regulatory building Ordinances, the lack of attention of Non-Developable Land, etc. Finally, the paper concludes with a brief reflection pointing out some keys in order to open a proactive debate that could allow improving this situation and overcoming the problems presented.
