Buyers are acquiring abandoned European villages to create isolated retreats

Wealthy buyers and tourism entrepreneurs are buying entire abandoned villages in Spain, Portugal, Italy and elsewhere in Europe to create isolated getaways and corporate-retreat destinations. In 2024 Jason Lee Beckwith made his first down payment on Salto de Castro, a village along a river near the Portuguese border.

Across Europe there are thousands of depopulated villages, a phenomenon described in the article as rural “desertification” that has become a political issue in countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy. Some villages are sold outright by a single owner; others require acquiring properties one by one, sometimes tracking down distant heirs.

Prices for acquisitions can be modest relative to renovation costs. Beckwith expects to pay €310,000 (about $367,000) to acquire Salto de Castro and estimates renovations will cost about €7 million; another project, Aldeia da Pedralva in southern Portugal, cost around €5 million to purchase and renovate and can be rented out in summer for upward of €7,000 a day.

Wotels, which manages Aldeia da Pedralva, operates a restaurant, cafe and 38 guest rooms and is working with the municipality to convert the original school into a museum-cum-event-space. Companies that organize village retreats have grown recently.

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