Abandoned Ghost Towns in Spain

Let's start with a quiz question for a change. How many completely or largely abandoned villages and hamlets are there in Spain? Are there 30, 300 or 3,000? Before you get the answer, it is good to realize that in countries such as France, Sweden and also Spain, the depopulation of the agricultural countryside has been going on for a long time.
The explanation for this is simple. In smaller communities far from towns or cities, young people in particular hardly see a future with work in sight. The attraction of the city is hard to resist. In other cases, farmers have left in search of more fertile land.
Their departure has a snowball effect. Fewer residents means that amenities (bars, restaurants, shops, schools) close their doors. This makes it increasingly difficult for those who remain to continue their existence there. Ergo: a new exodus begins.
Time to give the answer to the quiz question: 3,000. About half of them are in the northern provinces of Galicia and Asturias. The question now is of course what lies ahead for all those bleak ruins? Many date from the 15th century and have often fallen prey to nature, which has free rein to overgrow them with trees and shrubs.
Well, a combination of adventurous foreigners and creative local administrators may be able to provide a solution on a small scale.
Politicians do this by offering ruins for next to nothing to interested parties. In many cases, such a transaction is even completely free. Provided that the new owners come up with a good renovation or complete reconstruction plan that the local government can benefit from in the form of jobs.
On the other hand, there are many websites and companies that want to mediate in obtaining the faded glory. And the interest is there. Various adventurous people want to throw themselves into the uncertain market of the crumbling ghost villages. For example, British and Belgians, but also Russians and Mexicans have taken up the adventure.
The road to success is not easy. Apart from the amount of work and an uncertain outcome, it can often be a difficult process to obtain the ownership papers. Especially when it concerns a cluster of properties with multiple owners, who each have to agree.