For around the last 10 years, several places in Spain have been suffering greatly from depopulation in a phenomenon dubbed ‘Empty Spain’.
Around 22 million Spaniards live in the 100 most populated municipalities (not provinces) in Spain, according to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE).
This means that around half of the total Spanish population is concentrated in four percent of the national territory.
A lack of jobs, infrastructure and opportunities in rural areas has forced young people to move away, a trend which has been taking place since the days of Franco with Spain’s rapid industrialisation.
Services that did exist such as banking and health services are now also progressively closing down or moving to more populated areas.
READ ALSO: How ‘Empty Spain’ is now a political party
To face the challenge of what’s know as “Empty Spain”, the Spanish government included in its Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan a specific section dedicated to aid to help fight against depopulation.
This features many incentives for those who are willing to move to the countryside and help repopulate empty areas.
The aid aims to promote the economic and social rejuvenation of these areas by supporting innovative and sustainable projects that create jobs.
Digital nomads have been facing a lot of backlash in Spain recently, blamed for increasing rental prices and gentrification in cities, but the fact is that if they’d be willing to move to the countryside, they’d not only be able to gain incentives and tax breaks, but also offer a new lease of life to areas that desperately need it.
READ ALSO: Spain’s Catalonia to offer up to €40,000 to renovate rural properties
The total budget allocated to helping combat ‘Empty Spain’ is €10 billion, of which €7 billion is coming from Next Generation EU European funds.
The ‘Repuebla Plan’ is an initiative that seeks to combat the depopulation of rural areas in Spain by offering housing and job opportunities to people who want to move to these areas.
What aid is available?
Aid for buying a home
The State Plan for Access to Housing 2022-2025 includes direct aid to help people under 35 to buy homes in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
The aid consists of a subsidy of up to €10,800, with a limit of 20 percent of the purchase price for young adults who buy a home in these municipalities.
The property must be your habitual and permanent residence for at least five years and the prices cannot exceed 120,000. Applicants can also not have an income that exceeds €24,318 per year.
Tax breaks and housing benefits per region
Some Spanish regions have personal income tax deductions to attract new inhabitants, as well as other housing benefits.
Aragón
Aragón will help those under 35 years to buy a house in municipalities of under 3,000 inhabitants.
Asturias
Aid will be given for the acquisition or rehabilitation of a habitual residence in areas at risk of depopulation. It will be applicable to those under 35 years of age, large families or single parents.
Castilla y León
Aid will be granted to those under 36 years of age for the purchase of a home in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, or 3,000 if it is located at a maximum distance of 30 kilometres from a provincial capital.
The region will also offer aid of up €10,000 self-employed people who move to a rural village in underpopulated areas, taking their economic activity or business with them. The place where you move to and your age, as well as your business will affect how much you get.
Madrid
This region offers discounts of up to €1,000 for personal income tax for those under 35 years of age who live in municipalities with less than 2,500 inhabitants. There’s also a 10 percent discount on personal income tax for those who buy or restore homes in these municipalities.
Castilla-La Mancha
A 15 percent bonus will be given for buying or renovating a home in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants.
Murcia
The region offers a 15 percent deduction for the purchase or renovation of a primary residence in rural areas, with a limit of €9,040. A 20 percent deduction is also given for renting a primary residence in rural areas, with a limit of €700; and a deduction of €1,000 is given for starting an economic activity as a self-employed worker or as an employee in rural areas.
Galicia
This region offers a personal income tax deduction of 10 percent of the amount paid for the purchase or renovation of a habitual residence in municipalities with less than 3,000 inhabitants. This deduction has a limit of €400 per taxpayer and applies to those under 36, large families or people with disabilities.
La Rioja
Bonuses will be applied for the purchase, construction or rehabilitation of primary residences in small municipalities.
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