A Dutch couple has embarked on an adventure in emptied Spain with the purchase of Bárcena de Bureba, a town in the province of Burgos that has been abandoned for more than 50 years, with the intention of developing an ecovillage project, recovering the homes for residential and tourist use and implement ecological and sustainable farming initiatives.
The transaction was closed before last summer, although it was only now known, after a sales process that was very fast, something unusual when it comes to the sale and purchase of towns, Elvira Fafián, from Aldeas Abandonadas Real, explained to EFE. Estate, the real estate agency that managed the entire sale.
“They contacted us because they were looking for something that big, with many houses and land, far from the big cities,” said Fafián, and “it didn't take them long to go see it, they went directly to Bárcena and it fit them and they kept it.” ”, a very satisfactory deal for Abandoned Villages, and not only because of the economic issue.
The town of Bárcena de Bureba, located 40 kilometers from Burgos capital, has 64 homes, most of them in ruins, and occupies a total of six hectares; It was put up for sale for 525,000 euros, but the price was reduced to 339,000, more or less what the couple purchased it for.
Elvira Fafián has indicated that the Dutch had a very creative project under their belt to recover the town, with rehabilitation of the houses for both residential and tourist uses, in addition to the implementation of organic crops, since the six hectares "give a lot" , and ideas and enthusiasm are not lacking for the new owners.
“The town is true that it is quite in ruins but they can recover it, as they well comment; a house first and then, as they can financially, try to recover the entirety,” she pointed out, since the couple's intention is to get to work immediately and, at the moment, they are already processing the first permits.
Abandoned Villages will also be with them in this process, which is complicated, especially when it comes to a foreign couple who does not know the state regulations or know which doors they have to knock on; It is time to see how the reform will be carried out, what permits they need, what materials they are going to use, also how the environmental and agricultural project will be worked on, and if the municipality on which they depend - Abajas - provides them with basic services.
The person in charge of Aldeas Abandonas has recalled that, precisely, selling towns like Bárcena de Bureba is very laborious as it involves a large investment and whoever buys them must have a project, something more than the idea of living in the countryside, so that the initiative go ahead.
And the Dutch couple had already designed their ecovillage project, which represents a new opportunity for this town, thanks to a business that will bring benefits to the area, directly and indirectly, in the form of economic activity and employment, in a region with a lot of potential. tourist.
La Bureba is a crossroads, remembered from Abandoned Villages, and a passage along the Camino de Santiago; It has countless cultural heritage, in fact the municipality itself has a Romanesque church, and a natural space with many opportunities.
Elvira Fafián recalled that not everyone fits into rural areas; Now that there is so much talk about returning to the town, the recovery of the population in the so-called emptied Spain is much more than buying a property or renting a home, because if there is no vital project it has no continuity.
“He who invests with ideas stays, he who does not have a project, does not have as much attachment” and it is less difficult for him to end up leaving, which is why selling a town is so complicated, since it requires a large investment, a defined project and a lot of work to let it move forward. “We have to start from scratch,” Fafián insisted.
On the website of Abandoned Villages, where they have already been able to announce that Bárcena de Bureba has been sold, offer villages and towns, country houses, palaces, manor houses, palaces, monasteries, wineries, vineyards, lands, farms.
In Castilla y León, for example, a village in Palencia is sold for 1.2 million euros; a rural complex in León for 240,000 euros; three pasiegas cabins north of Burgos, for 61,500; in Segovia, a rural complex for 1.5 million and a town for 100,000 euros; and in Ávila, a rural complex for 1.7 million in addition to another town in ruins for 900,000 euros.
