Thousands of Spanish Ghost Villages On Sale for Pittance

Get a Whole Spanish Village for as little as £50,000

Thousands of Spanish villages are on sale for less than the price of the average house in the UK, costing from between £50,000 – £200,000.

Estate agent Rafael Canales estimates that there are around 2, 900 deserted villages in rural Spain.

One village, Ribeira Sacra, comes complete with six houses, a warehouse and 32,000sqft of land, and is available for the bargain price of £75,000 – less than a London garage.

Even the most expensive village on the books, Ribadero, will set the buyers back just £372,000, a steal compared to many UK properties.

Many of the villages, usually owned by the same families for generations, were left abandoned after many fled the countryside during Spain´s recession to head for the cities.

Spain was one of the worst-hit countries in the global recession, with unemployment rates surging to more than 20%. The country is still in recovery.

Foreigners are now looking to snap them up though, with a third of the interest coming from British buyers.

Although many are derelict and in need of extensive work to make them habitable, the properties would make ideal retirement nests, surrounded as they are by picturesque countryside and boasting a range of sought after features.

The abandoned homes are being sold now as families either cannot afford to pay the upkeep or know they will never be able to afford to return.

Families who left for larger towns in order to earn money are often loath to return to the country because it is viewed as taking a step backwards.