Girona has the most varied urbex in Catalonia after Barcelona — a province that in less than 100 kilometers long combines the Pyrenees with collections of abandoned medieval farmhouses, the Costa Brava with hotels closed since the first tourist reconversion, and the Empordà with emptied villages that second-home tourism never fully absorbed. The Can Busquets farmhouse in Sils, known as the most "haunted" in Catalonia, the semi-abandoned village of Jafre in Baix Empordà, and the textile factories of Alt Empordà form a unique abandonment circuit in northeastern Spain. These are the 5 best abandoned places in Girona, selected from our Urbex Spain Map — 600+ GPS locations across Spain.
Why Girona Is an Exceptional Urbex Destination
Girona combines the rural heritage of the Catalan farmhouse — the most specifically Catalan architectural typology, documented since the 12th century — with the textile industrial heritage of the Empordà and the tourist heritage of the Costa Brava. The Catalan urbex community regularly visits Girona; the diversity of typologies in a relatively compact territory makes the province one of the most productive in the country for urban exploration.
1. Can Busquets – Sils, Girona — 15th Century Farmhouse, The Most "Haunted" in Catalonia, Expanded until the 20th Century, Near Total Ruin (Known Place)
Can Busquets in Sils is the abandoned farmhouse that has earned the nickname of the most haunted in Catalonia — with documented references since the 15th century and expansions until the early 20th century, it was once an imposing place and a symbol of power. Today it is in a state of abandonment and decay very close to total ruin, with some dramatic events in its history that have turned Can Busquets into a cult site for paranormal enthusiasts and a benchmark of Catalan urbex. The farmhouse architecture in its most monumental version — with a defense tower, main body, and auxiliary dependencies — and the advanced state of deterioration create one of the most complete urbex experiences in the province of Girona. Documented by El Encanto del Pasado as the most famous abandoned farmhouse in Catalonia.
🔗 Source: El Encanto del Pasado – Abandoned Sites in Catalonia
2. Jafre – Baix Empordà, Girona — Semi-Abandoned Medieval Village on a Ridge, Church of San Martín on Castle Walls, 17th-18th Century Houses (Known Place)
Jafre in Baix Empordà is a semi-abandoned medieval village on a ridge overlooking the Ter — the Church of San Martín built using the walls of the old castle, the houses of Can Ric and Can Pou built in the 17th and 18th centuries now progressively abandoned, and the landscape of fields and riverbank stretching to the Ter. The urban core located on the ridge and its extension in small terraces creates a medieval silhouette that Girona tourism has not overcrowded. Documented by Crónica Global as an abandoned village in Girona "only for the brave" due to its legend of the girl who disappeared in the well.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Must-See Abandoned Sites in Spain →
3. Alt Empordà Textile Factory – Alt Empordà Region, Girona — 19th Century Textile Industry, Workshops with Transmission Belts, Muga or Fluvià River (Only on Our Map)
A 19th-century textile factory in the Alt Empordà region — the workshops with transmission belts still hanging from the ceiling, the water wheels over the Muga or Fluvià river, and the brick chimney that was for decades the most visible element of the Empordà industrial landscape. The textile industrial heritage of Alt Empordà is the least documented in the Girona urbex scene — attention focuses on farmhouses and medieval villages, leaving factories in the background that urbex precisely rescues. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
4. Abandoned Costa Brava Hotel – Costa Brava, Girona — 60s-70s Resort, Terraces Overlooking the Mediterranean, Pools with Views of the Coves (Exclusively on Our Map)
A Costa Brava hotel closed after the first transformation of the tourism sector — the terraces overlooking the Mediterranean where the first European tourists of the 20th century discovered that Spain had sun and sea, the empty pools with colorful tiles, and the rooms with the original furniture still in place. The Costa Brava was Spain’s first international tourist destination — the first-generation hotels from the 60s and 70s are the most specifically touristic heritage of the Girona province; those that did not find a new use are among the most photogenically powerful abandonments in the Spanish Mediterranean. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
5. Abandoned Romanesque Monastery – Garrotxa or Ripollès, Girona — 11th-12th Century Church, Cloister with Capitals, Pyrenean Valley (Off the Radar — Only on Our Map)
A Romanesque priory from the 11th-12th century in a valley of Garrotxa or Ripollès — the church with its carved capitals and semicircular stone arches in volcanic rock or sandstone, the ruined cloister with the central well, and the guesthouse silent since the disentailment. The Romanesque architecture of Girona is the most abundant and varied in Catalonia: the Pyrenean valleys of Garrotxa and Ripollès have a density of Romanesque churches, priories, and monasteries unmatched by any other Spanish province, and among those that are part of the tourist circuit and the forgotten ones, there is a layer of abandoned buildings of enormous architectural beauty. Find it on our map — with access rating and condition report.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous abandoned place in Girona?
Can Busquets in Sils — the 15th-century farmhouse with documented references since the Middle Ages, considered the most "haunted" farmhouse in Catalonia by urban explorers. Its state of near total ruin and its monumental architecture from five centuries of expansions make it the benchmark of urbex in Girona.
What makes the Catalan farmhouse unique as an architectural typology?
The Catalan farmhouse is the most specifically Catalan family agricultural unit — a building that combines living quarters, stable, cellar, and storage under the same pitched roof with an interior layout organized around the central hall ("la sala"). Documented farmhouses in Catalonia date back to the 12th century; the largest grew over centuries by adding wings and towers, creating buildings of enormous architectural complexity. Abandoned farmhouses are the most specifically Catalan domestic heritage and the most photogenically powerful of regional urbex.
Why are there abandoned hotels on the Costa Brava?
The Costa Brava was the pioneering destination for international tourism in Spain — the first hotels were built in the 1960s for a European clientele arriving by car or plane to discover the Mediterranean. When the tourism sector transformed in the 80s-90s — with new demands for heated pools, air conditioning, and all-inclusive — many first-generation hotels closed without finding buyers or alternative uses, leaving the terraces over the Mediterranean in silence.
Safety Tips
- Can Busquets: very advanced state of deterioration — never enter any area with clearly compromised roofs or floors; photograph from outside or from well-secured open spaces
- Pyrenean terrain: the valleys of Garrotxa and Ripollès may have snow or ice-covered trails from October to April — check trail conditions before any mountain excursions
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and share your location
The urbex code: "Respect decay. It tells the story."
🎯 Summary
The abandoned places in Girona range from the most haunted farmhouse in Catalonia in Sils to the medieval village perched on the Baix Empordà ridge and the first Costa Brava hotels with terraces overlooking the Mediterranean. Each of these 5 abandoned sites in Girona captures a different layer of the province that invented Spanish tourism and preserves, among farmhouses and Romanesque priories, the Catalonia that Empordà never fully urbanized.
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