Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Rural Spain is disappearing. As young people migrate to cities and northern European ‘snowbirds’ snap up second homes, villages are left teetering on the edge of extinction.
Diego Yuste, who became mayor of Tragacete (a mountain town located in Cuenca) in 2019, saw the population steadily decline. Tragacete was like many rural towns in that it lacked essential facilities to maintain life. This included schools, health clinics, even a local post office. They closed without people. They couldn’t reopen without housing.
Yuste saw potential in disused buildings – former Guardia Civil barracks and old teachers’ houses – transforming them into public rental housing. Ten units have been renovated in the town, resulting in a small, but crucial resurgence. Eight students now attend the local school, up from two.
Yuste: “I am always in favor of social housing.” “People do not buy instantly. Rent and try it. They then commit.”
In the interior of Spain, however, housing shortages have stifled any attempts at revitalization. Rural rental markets are almost nonexistent. Many homes, which are owned by foreigners who retire only occasionally, remain empty the majority of the year.
Jesús Patón, a 48-year-old resident in one of Tragacete’s public units, says locals are being priced out. “Everything is going to second homes, and tourist properties. There’s nothing here for people who want to stay.
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In 2019, the rise of Teruel Existe as a political movement born out rural protests brought these issues to national attention. Manifiesto por Cuenca and others have called on reforms that will support rural renters as well as restore vacant houses.
Soledad morales, an economist, says “there’s not widespread homelessness” but that in some places, finding a place to rent is like hitting gold.
There’s no quick fix. But for now, driven local leaders—and bold housing policy—may be Empty Spain’s best hope of survival and regeneration.
