This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
In the picturesque and green northwest corner of Spain, the village and municipality of Igüeña is trying to attract new residents with house prices as low as 3,800 euro.
The population of the Spanish interior is aging and thinning out fast as the young head for jobs and opportunities in big cities, leaving the spacious countryside and villages to a dwindling number of older people. It’s a slow-motion downward spiral that is slowly strangling life out of the Spanish interior, as services and opportunities for young people and families collapse with their declining numbers, prompting more to leave.
Not all the municipalities of the interior are taking this decline lying down. The Municipality of Igüeña, in the county of El Bierzo, part of the autonomous region of Castile & León, has been offering homes at almost giveaway prices to attract new residents and second-home owners, and not without some success.
The local authority has managed to sell 100 out of 130 homes for less than 5,000 euro each to outsiders on an empty housing project in the village of Tremor de Arriba, built in the 1960s for miners and their families that was left deserted when the mine closed. The local population was 3,000 in the 1970s, but now stands at 320 residents.
It’s an attractive region but very isolated, a four hour drive from Madrid’s airport, though there may be flights to closer regional airports. But some people seek isolation, now potentially more than ever as the disease makes a virtue of social distancing and self-isolation.
The Spanish press reports there are still some homes for sale from the local authority with prices below €5,000 for a 3-bed apartment. In the comments section to one article it said there were very few left, but you never know.For more information contact the townhall of Igüeña on tel +34 98 751 9507.
tops says:
Big fan of the wine from there, though I think they are missing a trick by not marketing the young stuff as Bierz Nuevo.
Caitriona O' Connor says:
Hi Mark. Great article, thanks so much! Just wondering if you are aware of any other Municipalities that are currently trying to regenerate an area like Igüeña? Thanks so much, Caitriona.
Mark Stücklin says:
Over the years I’ve heard of a few similar initiatives but can’t remember their names off the top of my head.
Caitriona O' Connor says:
Hi Mark, not to worry. We´ve actually decided to head into the interior for the bank holiday to see what these little villages are like in reality. If they have good internet access I don´t think I´ll manage to convince my partner to stay in Barcelona at all!
Thanks again for the article (and the others), we´re learning so much about the market from your insights.