'Empty' village offers cut-price home rent to 'repopulate' the area
Monday, January 12, 2015 @ 11:03 AM
A VILLAGE in the north-western region of Galicia is seeking tenants for €100 a month to 'repopulate' it, since nearly three-quarters of the population has left.
A Xesta, a hamlet which belongs to the larger village of A Lama, has 176 houses but only 50 residents – 27 of the properties stand empty all year round and the rest are only weekend or summer homes.
Only two children are registered on the padrón, or census, and there are no births, since residents of working age have had to move elsewhere to be nearer bigger towns with jobs available.
And those left, retirees, are gradually dying off from old age with each decade that passes.
In light of the ever-declining population, the comfortably-sized stone houses in this picturesque location are up for rent for just €100 a month.
Owners, mainly younger adults who live elsewhere and have inherited the properties from parents or grandparents, are keen to keep the village from crumbling and becoming deserted, and say they do not want to make a significant income from their homes – rather, just keep them in use.
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