Entire Spanish Villages Up for Sale
Every August, Spain's countryside comes alive with fiestas.
A jolly trombone player prances through a crowd of revelers in Cantalejo, a small town about 1 1/2 hours' drive north of Madrid. But the hubbub is deceiving because hardly anyone actually lives here. People come one week a year to party in the villages of their ancestors. During the other 51 weeks, towns like this are deserted.
"There was a time when this place was growing! But not anymore. This pueblo is dying," says Felix Sacristan, who's 55 and unemployed, living in his late grandfather's house. "The only ones left are the elderly. There are lots of abandoned homes."
In northern Europe, the Industrial Revolution pulled people to big cities centuries ago. But in Spain, that migration happened much later in the mid-20th century. The first wave occurred after the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s; the second, after Spain's military dictatorship ended in the late 1970s.
Now there's been a third exodus, amid the recent economic crisis. But it's not just on Spain's harsh central plans. Even villages in the country's most fertile northwest region, Galicia, are being depopulated. The lush Galician landscape once supported Spain's highest population density, and half of all Spanish villages some 3,500 hamlets are located there.
Now nearly half of these villages are abandoned.
Enter Mark Adkinson, a British-born real estate agent who scours the countryside for abandoned properties, and tries to match them up with foreign buyers.
"Some of the places I'm finding have been empty for 50 or 60 years," Adkinson says. "And my job is to try to find the descendants."
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The one with the river full of trout is interesting. Mac and I would love to have that village.
Interesting how the movement of the populationhas changed Spain so much.
LOL, indeed I do see where your going...Mac and I may be right behind or ahead of you.
And once you all get set up, deepwater don will be moving in also. Sounds like a nice place to live. One could almost be self sufficient it would seem. Thanks for the article, ambi!
We are gathering a tribe to move to Spain. Welcome dd, this is good.
Sockeye salmon, fresh from the ocean is the best. As is halibut. They are two of my favorites, as well as codfish. And of course any crab is near the top of my list also. I will put something together, with some pictures. You have very good taste in your choice of seafood, ambi.
K.... I'll be there when you get the Tribe together.
Galicia is one of the most beautiful parts of Spain. I have spent many summers there with my daughter-in-law's family. It's lush and green with grand history around every corner. This exodus is dreadful. Many of the young move to Madrid where there is opportunity for advanced education and jobs other than farming or shop tending, etc.
Many of the old houses are simply gorgeous beyond description.
Many, many years ago I toured the area. It is beautiful, really beautiful. It's very sad to see it in it's present condition.