Valencia has the most diverse urbex in the Spanish Mediterranean — a community that combines the monumental cement factory of Buñol, which was the setting for 96-hour raves, the Bétera psychiatric hospital with its pavilions emptied in the 1990s, villages flooded by reservoirs in the Valencian interior, and tile and ceramic factories made obsolete by globalization in the Plana de Castellón. Discover the 5 best abandoned places in Valencia, selected from our Urbex Spain Map — 600+ GPS locations across Spain.
Why Valencia Is an Exceptional Urbex Destination
The Valencian Community combines the industrial heritage of the inland regions — abandoned cement, ceramic, and textile factories — with the institutional heritage of hospitals and psychiatric hospitals closed during the healthcare reform decades, and the hydraulic heritage of villages flooded by large 20th-century reservoirs. The Mediterranean light and dry vegetation of the Valencian interior create an atmosphere of abandonment completely different from the humid north.
1. Old Cement Factory of Buñol – Buñol, Valencia — 1917 Cement Factory, Monumental Silos, Venue of the 2009 New Year's Eve Rave, Pending Demolition (Known Location)
The old Cement Factory of Buñol is the icon of Valencian industrial urbex — a 1917 cement factory whose spectacular dimensions and monumental silos attracted so much attention that when it closed, it became the setting for clandestine parties, including the 2009 New Year's Eve rave where thousands welcomed the new year over 96 hours. The cement factory dates back to 1917 and was once an important industrial center; after a new facility was built a few meters away, the old one became obsolete and was progressively abandoned. The Buñol City Council is processing its demolition — urgent visit before it disappears. Extensively documented by Abandoned Spain as one of the most iconic industrial abandonments in Valencia.
🔗 Source: Abandoned Spain – The Old Cement Factory of Buñol Valencia
2. Bétera Psychiatric Hospital – Bétera, Valencia — Psychiatric Hospital Closed in the 1990s, Pavilions with Empty Corridors, Courtyards with Centenary Palm Trees (Known Location)
The Bétera Psychiatric Hospital is one of the most atmospheric institutional abandonments in the Valencian Community — a historic psychiatric hospital whose pavilions were emptied in the 1990s during the psychiatric reform that closed the large Spanish asylums. The corridors with open rooms, the courtyards with century-old palm trees no longer pruned, and the silence that has replaced decades of voices create the most specifically psychiatric atmosphere in Valencian urbex. A large-scale abandonment with great historical weight regularly documented by the Valencian urbex community.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Must-See Abandoned Sites in Spain →
3. Flooded Village in the Valencian Interior – Interior Reservoir, Valencia — Village Underwater in the Reservoir, Church Towers Emerging in Drought, Submerged Memory (Only on Our Map)
A village flooded by a reservoir in the Valencian interior — when the water level drops during drought years, roofs, cobbled streets, and the church tower emerge from the water like a ghost town temporarily returned to the world by the reservoir. The submerged villages of Valencia are the most ephemeral and unpredictable urbex there is: they only appear when drought allows, can only be seen for days or weeks, and then the water covers them again. An abandonment experience that cannot be planned months in advance — just check the reservoir level and rush out when the opportunity arises. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
4. Abandoned Ceramic Factory – Plana de Castellón, Valencia — 20th Century Tile Industry, Kilns, Halls with Tile Patterns (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 20th-century ceramic factory in the Plana de Castellón — the kilns are off, production halls still have pressing molds in place, and floors are covered with tile fragments in the colors that made Valencian ceramic industry famous worldwide. The Plana de Castellón is the largest tile and ceramic producer in the world — but globalization and the 2008 crisis closed dozens of factories that couldn’t compete with Asian production. The closed factories of the Plana are the most specifically Valencian industrial heritage in the community’s urbex. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
5. Abandoned Modernist Villa – Ribera Region, Valencia — Residence of the 19th-20th Century Orange-Growing Bourgeoisie, Tiles, Garden with Orange Trees (Off the Radar — Only on Our Map)
A villa of the 19th-20th century orange-growing bourgeoisie in the Ribera region — the façade with colorful Valencian tiles, the garden with century-old orange trees left unharvested since abandonment, and the interior with original hydraulic mosaics on the main living room floor. The wealth generated by Valencian orange exports in the 19th century and the first third of the 20th financed a generation of ambitious recreational villas in the Ribera del Júcar; those without active heirs are the most specifically orange-growing domestic heritage in Spain. Find it on our map — with access rating and condition report.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous abandoned place in Valencia?
The Buñol Cement Factory — the icon of Valencian industrial urbex, pending demolition, which was the setting for the 96-hour New Year's Eve rave in 2009. With its monumental silos visible from the Valencia-Madrid highway, it is the most recognizable industrial abandonment in the Valencian Community. Urgent visit before the Buñol City Council carries out the demolition.
What was the Spanish psychiatric reform and why are there abandoned psychiatric hospitals?
The Spanish psychiatric reform of the 1980s-90s was driven by the 1986 General Health Law, which advocated deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and their integration into the community through supervised apartments and day centers. Large psychiatric hospitals — some with hundreds of beds and decades of history — were progressively emptied; many of their buildings were abandoned due to the difficulty of repurposing such large-scale facilities.
Why are there submerged villages in Valencia?
The large reservoirs built in the Júcar, Turia, and Mijares basins during Francoist developmentalism in the 1950s-70s flooded several villages in the Valencian interior whose inhabitants were relocated to newly built towns. In severe drought years, the water level drops enough for the remains of the old buildings to temporarily emerge, creating one of the most photogenically extraordinary spectacles of Spanish urbex.
Safety Tips
- Submerged villages: never enter the remains of buildings that have just emerged from the water — moisture-saturated structures are extremely unstable and can collapse without warning
- Buñol Cement Factory: concrete structures over 100 years old with possible asbestos — FFP2 mask mandatory in any enclosed space and never explore under roofs or floors that look like they might collapse
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and share your location
The urbex code: "Respect decay. It tells the story."
🎯 Summary
Visit the abandoned places in Valencia: from the Buñol Cement Factory with its monumental silos and pending demolition to the Bétera Psychiatric Hospital with its courtyards of century-old palm trees and the villages that the reservoir reveals in drought years. Each of these 5 abandoned sites in Valencia captures a different layer of the community that has oranges, tiles, and, hidden inland, the most diverse urbex in the Spanish Mediterranean.
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