The Spanish region of Asturias is a ‘hidden gem’ for those who know Spain well, with its rugged award-winning beaches and majestic Picos de Europa mountain range, all packed into the fourth smallest autonomous community in the country. 

Granted it rains more than the national average during the winter months, but that’s what ensures that it remains off the tourist trail and keeps it looking green and beautiful all year round.

So if you prefer the ‘other Spain’, the one with rolling hills, a cooler climate and quieter cities, we have good news for you, especially if you want to move there.

Photo: urti2009/Pixabay

Asturias has an abundance of well-priced plots of land for under €50,000, many of them over 1,000 square metres in size.

According to property website Fotocasa, there are currently more than 900 plots of land under this price, although this site doesn’t allow users to filter out the ones with building permits and technically approved (“urbano” and “urbanizable”) from those where building is limited or not allowed (rústico).

A well-preserved hórreo structure in Asturias. Photo: locuig/Pixabay

The other big property website in Spain – Idealista – does allow you to do this and currently features more than 1,300 plots of land available in Asturias where you will be allowed to build your own home or revamp the traditional stone or wooden hórreo structures that scatter the countryside in northwestern Spain and often come with the plot.

Screenshot showing the abundance of plots of land in Asturias where you can build, a great deal of which are close to the coast. Source: Idealista

Unfortunately, Idealista doesn’t allow you to set a price cap of €50,000 – which to keep in line with the article’s headline we’ve set as the bar for what constitutes ‘cheap land’. Their lowest setting for a maximum price is €100,000.

So, is Asturias the only region in Spain with an abundance of cheap “terrenos” in idyllic locations? Not at all.

Even neighbouring Galicia with which Asturias shares a lot in terms of weather, cost of living and scenery has around 4,300 plots of land for under €100,000 (1,400 on which you can build on) listed on Idealista and 1,600 in total under €50,000 on Fotocasa.

There are also regions in Spain’s interior such as La Rioja, Castilla y León, Castilla y La Mancha and Aragón where you can get good deals on land.

So why focus on Asturias? Well, given its long, somewhat narrow shape along Spain’s northern coast, both beaches and mountains are easily reachable from pretty much wherever you are, making it a region with a lot to offer in a small space.

Galicia, for example has a far bigger interior so even though it’s traditionally a coastal region, much of Lugo and Ourense provinces are far from the sea.

There are of course plots of land available in the more popular coastal parts of Spain – Catalonia, Valencia region, the Canary Islands, the Balearics – but expect to pay a far bigger price for a “terreno” close to the coast and have less to choose from overall.

There are also terrains available in Cantabria and the Basque Country to the right of Asturias, although they are fewer in number and generally more expensive the further east you go.

So if you’re looking to buy a cheap plot of land in Spain, whether it’s to grow food and spend your weekends or to build a house from scratch there, consider Asturias.

It’s a personal choice at the end of the day, but ‘El Principado’ certainly packs a lot of punch. 

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