THESE 36 traditional Spanish villages in inland Malaga province are looking for people to move there

Malaga, in Andalusia, is promoting its towns and villages to attract foreign buyers and staunch the exodus of Spaniards looking for work, the “empty Spain” phenomenon.

The website just launched: “vente a vivi ra un pueblo” (come and live in a village) showcases the beautiful tranquillity of rural life on the Iberian peninsula.

There are 12 areas where towns exist that are being promoted, from Andalucia, Aragon, Canary Islands, Castilla la Mancha, Castile and Leon, Madrid, Valencia, Estremadura, Galicia, The Roja, Murcia and Asturias.

On the platform you can explore work options, health care support, business plans, with the website featuring a town of the week, this week is Villarrodrigo (Jaén)

The website offers information on the number of inhabitants, educational centres, medical centres, internet access, public transport details and grants for entrepreneurs as well as work availability.

The website has a prominent pop up: “Important announcement: We help all those who want to go live in a town, giving an extensive audiovisual report on the towns that are part of this platform. With information you can make better decisions and discover the quality of life they offer. But WE DO NOT GIVE NEITHER HOUSING, NOR WORK in the towns.”

There are complex reasons why there is this interest in bring more residents to Spain´s rural villages. Due to former dictator Francisco Franco‘s push towards industrialisation in the mid-20th century, Spain’s rural population started to decrease.

The main reasons for the declining population in Spain are cited as: emigration in search of work and the decreasing birth rate as a consequence of the economic climate and certain cultural norms in the country: Economic reasons are the high unemployment levels and low wages, plus couples are staying at home for longer.

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