Spanish village offers free housing to family willing to run local bar

The village of Arenillas, in Castilla y León, is searching for a family with children to move into a local house for free.

In exchange for the rent-free accommodation, the municipality is looking for new residents who are willing to work and contribute to the community.

It is part of an ongoing effort to repopulate the municipality, which has already seen several applications. The village has set two primary conditions: the family must have children and they must manage the local bar. Additionally, a job for a bricklayer is also being offered in the area.

Most natives of Arenillas moved to larger towns and cities over the decades, leaving the municipality at risk of disappearing. To combat this, several decades ago, the community renovated a number of buildings to create seven "social housing" units - a significant investment for a place with fewer than a hundred houses.

One of these homes is now vacant. While the monthly rent for the other six units is approximately 100 euros, the village is offering this specific house to new tenants free of charge.

Although the local school closed 30 years ago, the family will be provided with free daily transport to the school in Berlanga de Duero, located some 20 kilometres away. Rodrigo Gismera, a member of the Asociación Sociocultural de Arenillas, confirmed that the association is still open for applications.

Gismera, who lives in Madrid but remains deeply connected to his ancestral village, noted that the exodus to cities began in the 1950s. "As fewer people were living in the village, the town hall, the locals and the association - which now has some 200 members - realised there was a shortage of housing and began renovating existing buildings," he explained.

This project took shape during the 1980s, transforming the closed school and the former doctor’s house with the help of subsidies.

"In an area where housing was virtually non-existent, Arenillas became like a lake in the desert," Gismera said.

While healthcare, education, and transport remain challenges, Gismera believes the repopulation efforts are working. "At least the bleeding has been stopped. Today, there are as many residents as there were 50 years ago."

Fewer than a dozen homes remain open year-round, but the village fills up during weekends and summers when owners return. "When I was a child, there were lots of collapsed houses, but people renovated them and now they're perfectly habitable," Gismera added.

With an economy rooted in livestock farming, the village offers a quiet rural life where shepherds live alongside retirees. The offer of free housing is designed to compensate for the fact that, as Gismera admits, "the bar doesn't generate much income."