Couple buy their dream holiday VILLAGE in Spain for £290,000: Settlement abandoned 50

A Dutch couple have bough their dream holiday village in Spain for just £290,000 and are planning to transform it into an ‘ecovillage.’ 

The couple bought the land that the abandoned village of Bárcena de Bureba, roughly 120 miles north of Madrid, sits on for just €339,000. 

The sale covered the 64 abandoned buildings of the village, which has been left alone for the last 50 years. 

The couple bought the whole village from estate agents Aldeas Abandonadas, after negotiating the sale price down from €525,000, a reduction of nearly 40%.

According to the estate agents’ listing on its website, the village’s church, bell tower and presbytery are still standing. 

The couple bought the land that the abandoned village of Bárcena de Bureba, roughly 120 miles north of Madrid

The sale covered the 64 abandoned buildings of the village, which has been left alone for the last 50 years

The couple bought the whole village from estate agents Aldeas Abandonadas, after negotiating the sale price down from €525,000, a reduction of nearly 40%

According to the estate agents’ listing on its website, the village’s church, bell tower and presbytery are still standing

Elvira Fafián, a spokesperson for the estate agents, said she was surprised at the speed at which the sale went through. 

‘They contacted us because they were looking for something big like this, with lots of houses and land, away from the big cities,’ she told the Times.

‘It didn’t take them long to go and see it. They went straight to Bárcena and it suited them and they snapped it up.’ 

She also told the Times that the couple have a long-term plan of transforming the village into a green and sustainably run hub. 

They are at the start of a ‘very creative project for the recovery of the village, with the renovation of the houses for both residential and tourist uses, as well as setting up organic farming.’

But Fafián admitted that the couple have a steep hill to climb if they want their new ecovillage to succeed. 

‘It is true that the village is in ruins but they can start recovering it, as they say — a house first and then, as they can afford it, try to recover the whole.’