Leave everything and... repopulate a town!
The city doesn't even allow us to think about ourselves: traffic jams, running on the subway from one place to another, always with the time glued to our asses, without time for anything, almost without seeing friends or without being able to enjoy family.
If you are determined to take the plunge, this may be over. In recent years, two interesting phenomena have been taking place in this regard.
- On the one hand, the mayors of some towns are developing initiatives to encourage families determined to take the step: move to a town with few inhabitants.
- For another, some villages that have been completely abandoned due to the phenomenon of migration have been put up for sale . In other words, if you have money, not as much as you might initially imagine, you have the option of buying your own village.
The possibilities are numerous since, according to Elvira Fafian , responsible for Abandoned Villages , there are 1500 uninhabited villages . From them, about 200 are available for sale.
Let's look at both options in detail.
1. INITIATIVES FOR THE REPOPULATION OF LOCALITIES
There are many reasons why the life of a town is reactivated, but generally they are usually driven by municipalities and businessmen to attract tourism to the area and encourage employment . on other occasions jobs are offered to families with children and rents at cheap prices to rejuvenate the population.
In addition, new communities can be formed around hobbies or common lifestyles: nudism, environmentalism, vegetarianism, art , etc. Let's look at some examples.
How idyllic is this? well it can be yours
Velilla: you will come from outside to reactivate my town
Lola and Raul They lived in Fuenmayor, La Rioja, very close to Logroño, and they wanted to buy a house in the countryside. They were visiting different towns until they arrived in Velilla , an abandoned village in the mountains whose demolished houses were already confused with the vegetation. Since there was no water or electricity, the neighbors who had houses there had stopped coming back for vacations. The couple fell in love with the place and began to ask shepherds and nearby towns for owners of the houses. "It was very difficult because some were embarrassed to sell and others were houses that belonged to several brothers and they did not agree." Finally, after insisting a lot, they found the prize: "A man told us that if we wanted to buy it had to be three little houses that he had." And they bought and rehabilitated them.
“At first we started to come on weekends and then we stayed the whole week”, says Lola who, sometimes with the help of the San Román de Cameros City Council, and on other occasions with her own hands, they were rehabilitating the whole village : "Now the only street in the town is cobbled and lit up at night and other neighbors are encouraging themselves to return and rehabilitate their houses."
The impulse of this couple who love the countryside, nature and tranquility, has served so that this town, which was dead, has been resurrected . They bought one more house, the old town hall, and now they have a complex of rural houses, Houses of Velilla , which they rent to those who want to enjoy a few days of what they love.
Velilla was abandoned and is now a haven of peace
Valdelavilla, the English town
** Valdelavilla, in Soria**, is a town that was rehabilitated at the initiative of Soria Highlands and La Caja Rural to encourage employment in the area. A rural hotel was installed which makes up the entire village and has become famous for becoming a place of English language immersion without having to travel to the British Isles. According to Laura, a worker at the complex, the language of Shakespeare is the official language of the town and numerous courses have been held there since 2001 : "The idea is that for every Spanish-speaker who arrives at the place there is an English-speaker to talk to."
"For every Spanish speaker, an English speaker"
El Fonoll, the nudist village
The Fonoll, in Tarragona, It is the only officially nudist town in Spain , All thanks to Emily Vives , who bought it and rehabilitated it for that purpose. In 1995, Emili, now 63 years old, bought a private hunting ground that included a small abandoned town, composed of twelve houses and a small Romanesque church that is closed today. In 1998 Emili moved with his family to El Fonoll . The village he has his own currency and the rules are the ones he sets : "If the weather allows it, the coexistence will be fully nude."
Along with Emili and her family live volunteers who come and go in exchange for accommodation and food if they collaborate in the maintenance of the place. The Fonoll has facilities to practice tantra, yoga, dance, massages. It also has a library, pool, orchards, burritos, horses, or a barbecue area.
** Isin, the village of the disabled**
Isin is located in the Acumer Valley , one of the smallest and most virgin in the Aragonese Pyrenees. It is located 10 minutes by car from Sabiñánigo, but at the same time in the middle of the forest.
“In the year 2000, the Adislaf-Benito Ardid Foundation began to rebuild the town respecting the typical architecture of the Serrablo region and creating a place adapted to the vacation needs of users with intellectual disabilities . Until recently we focused on basic care (assistance, education, work) and leisure is a fundamental pillar", says Gema González, manager of the Isín hotel: "It is an ideal town to practice relaxation activities such as yoga, chi-kun or meditation, and sports activities such as horseback riding, cycling, hiking, etc.”, continues Gema. Although initially thought for intellectual disabilities, now it is adapted to all types of disabilities.
"The Pyrenees for everyone"
hug the earth
There is an interesting initiative, the non-profit foundation ** Abraza la Tierra **, which tries to attract people to the most depopulated areas of Castilla León, Castilla La Mancha, Extremadura, Cantabria and Aragón.
“People who want to live in a town they contact us and we help them in the selection process of the town , in the search for the necessary resources, the approach and development of your project, and at the same time, we put you in contact with the inhabitants of the municipality and carry out a reception monitoring and integration of the newcomers to the life of the town”, says Eva Gonzalez , coordinator and head of communication for the Foundation.
All advice takes into account two things: a life project and a work project. For the first, families or individuals are helped to choose the town, find housing and a pleasant community to live in. As for the second aspect, It is usually linked to entrepreneurship , so they are advised to create a business from all points of view.
There are villages waiting for you for €76,000
two. I WANT TO BUY A TOWN, HOW DO I DO IT?
1 - Gather the money… You got it? Well go for it. You do not have it? Associate with friends, with family or, if you prefer, with strangers. There are villages for sale from 72,000 euros and, from there, the range is wide up to around one million euros , always depending on the size of the town, the location and the condition of the buildings and houses. “The areas of Galicia and Asturias are usually cheaper, while in Castilla León, Teruel, etc, prices tend to rise a little more ”, says Elvira Fafián, from Aldeas Abandonadas.
2 - Dive into the net to find the town of your dreams , where you want to start your rural business or retire to live your rest, your retirement or, if you are lucky enough to work from home, as long as you can. The best known websites to carry out this type of transaction are ** Pueblos Desinhabitados y Aldeas Abandonadas **. The person in charge of this last real estate agency specializing in the sale and purchase of uninhabited towns explains that a few years ago “the profiles of the buyers were foreigners, especially Russians and Mexicans, but in recent times they tend to be more French, Swiss or American, apart from Spanish entrepreneurs who want to start a business ”.
3 - If you already have the money and you have decided on the town, it is not enough to pay and that's it. Procedures can take 6 or 7 months since you have to present a report explaining, among other things, what you are going to do with the town, what are you going to use it for , if you are going to make an investment, if you are going to rehabilitate it, if you are going to request services from the town hall or some type of subsidy, etc.
Thinking of you for a long time... Benefits of rural
**THE MOTIVATING PLUS: WHY GO TO TOWN (EVEN FOR A FEW DAYS) **
Breath pure air.
Being able to see the stars at night.
The smell of wet earth in autumn.
Have time to read a book or any text of more than 140 characters.
Stroll through the countryside at the door of your house.
Enjoy the animals.
Eat village bread.
The silence.
May the birds wake you up in the morning.
Stroll through narrow and winding streets with history.
Forget that there are traffic lights or traffic jams.
Being able to ride a bike without the danger of being run over.
Go hiking every day.
Integrate into a small community.
Change the smell of the exhaust pipe for that of flowers or aromatic plants.
To meditate.
Think of you for a long time.
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