Soil physical and chemical characteristics of 38 shrub communities, located in Leon province, have been studied and compared with the dominant ligneous species. All the samples have been compared using a factorial analysis of principal components. Genista hispanica communities have soils with neutral or alkaline pH and more contents in cations than the other communities. Soil of heathlands is generally acid. Cytisus and Genista florida communities have soils with relatively high contents of organic matter and P205. Cistus communities and Thymus communities, on the contrary, have soils with low contents of both of them.