Hamlets for sale throughout Spain

NOT only are property prices low but entire hamlets are going at knockdown prices.  Around 60 are available at present and more than half are in Galicia in northern Spain. 

Four stone-built houses and a mill in Ribeira Sacra (Lugo) needing restoration have an asking price of €180,000 and are typical of what can be found.  

Others are located in Andalucia, Asturias, Cantabria, Extremadura and Cataluña. The keenest buyers are the British and Scandinavians, according to Rafael Canales, spokesman for www.aldeasabandonadas.com. 

There are probably 3,000 abandoned hamlets throughout Spain but the majority are unsellable as they lack deeds and do not appear on land registries.

There is growing demand for those that can be legally sold, although clients are changing, Canales said.  In the past, they wanted properties to convert to small hotels and pensions.  Now many want them for themselves.

“It is as easy to work from one of these properties as from an office in Madrid, Barcelona or London,” he pointed out. “There are good roads, airports nearby, internet and the same facilities as in a city.”