Cut-price Spanish villages? Not on the Costa del Sol

Buying property on the Costa del Sol is about lifestyle, not bargain hunting

You may think it strange that a VIVA news story focuses on why the Costa del Sol isn’t the cheapest place in which to buy Spanish property.

You may think, given that we sell property in the Costa del Sol, it would suit our interests to write stories telling of how there are many bargains to be had up and down the coast.

But if VIVA has learnt anything during its time overseeing the Costa del Sol property market, it is that honesty is always the best policy. Which is why recent reports in the British media that lift the lid on Spain’s ‘ghost villages’ are welcome news…Sure, the fact that entire villages in many parts of Spain can be bought for as little as €60,000 may raise a few eyebrows, but it should also raise a whole host of questions, too.

Namely: why so cheap? According to an article in the Daily Mail last weekend, there are 2,900 empty villages dotted about Spain – with more than half in the northern autonomous region of Galicia.

These pueblos were abandoned at various stages over the past few decades, often in the wake of some economic turmoil, most recently during the last recession in 2008.

And what’s left behind? Overgrown, shelled-out villas, barns and out-houses, with entire clusters of properties up for sale for just a few thousand euros. According to the Daily Mail, one British investor purchased a hamlet in Arrunada, Galicia, which comprised four dilapidated properties. Now entirely renovated, the eagle-eyed buyer has spent less than €160,000 in total.

Now we admit, the idea has its merits. Idyllic, remote, rural and undoubtedly romantic, there are obvious attractions to this type of investment. But, much like the run-down terraced homes famously up for sale for £1 each in parts of northern England, hope, opportunities, services and neighbours have all long fled these parts.

If your idea of a dream home in Spain is one of peace, quiet, sunshine and solitude, then it goes without saying that you also need convenience, running water, mains connectivity, neighbours, social opportunities and things to see and do.

Galicia – for all its charms – just doesn’t quite offer the full package. The Costa del Sol, where property prices are stable and fair, certainly does, and in spades. The climate is better, the infrastructure more highly developed, the cultural, employment and social opportunities more varied, and the property market a proper reflection on market demand.

People want to live on the Costa del Sol because it is the very epitome of the old saying, ‘location, location, location’. It may not be able to boast bargain basement property prices, but it offers everything else, and then some.