‘We bought Casa Alamanda – we want to breathe new life into rural Spain'

Telegraph

04-05-2025

Nicola and Mickey Walters had never heard of the tiny village of Moclín until they watched Amanda Holden and Alan Carr's recent house renovation series, Amanda and Alan's Spanish Job.
They were so taken by the TV duo's transformation of a derelict Andalucian townhouse into a colourful Alhambra-inspired property that they have just bought Casa Alamanda, the three-bedroom, house that Amanda and Alan built.
'We had no plans of buying another property,' says Nicola, who with Mickey owns a villa in the Costa del Sol. But then she couldn't resist. 'I put in an offer without even viewing it. A few weeks later, we were asked if we'd like to visit it, so we flew out the next day, and the moment Moclín came into view, we both just said 'Wow'. We knew this was the place we'd like to spend time and for others to enjoy, too.'
More British people are being drawn to Europe's dying rural villages in the hunt for ultra-cheap properties and unspoilt countryside. In Italy, some villages are offloading unloved homes for €1 a pop to draw in buyers, boost the population and revive the area; elsewhere you can find properties for a few thousand.
Moclín is a prime example. It is off-the-beaten track, with just 200 residents; when someone dies, it makes a dent in the population. It has just one shop and two bars (one of which is only open on weekends). Most young people have left for jobs in Granada or Malaga, and it is not known for its competitive housing market. Before the BBC bought the house it had been empty for 35 years.
But Nicola and Mickey were up against unprecedented demand for a property in a town where you can still pick up ruins for under €50,000. The newly-renovated house – which was originally bought in its rundown state for €65,000 – went on sale for €245,000 last month (with all profits going to charity).
It attracted 35 offers from overseas buyers in the UK, South Africa, Sweden and the US, one at asking price, with the highest reaching €455,000. One bidder offered €100,000 plus a Ferrari.
Yet it wasn't simply a case of selling the house to the highest bidder. 'The point of the series is to breathe new life into dying villages, so we don't want someone who will simply buy the house as a holiday home that will sit empty for most of the year,' says Ian Rutter, of Granada Village & Country, who handled the sale. He recalls the delight of his neighbour when he and his husband, moved to Moclín in 2016, as almost every house in the street had been abandoned.
One bidder didn't want to rent out the property when he wasn't there. Another needed to go through a complex visa process to move to Spain. The Walters, meanwhile, as cash buyers, could act quickly and have pledged to support local charities such as Moclín's Women's Association.
Nicola and Mickey, who are from Flint in north Wales, aren't planning to run Casa Alamanda as a B&B, which was Holden and Carr's vision for it, but they intend to employ local people to operate it as an Airbnb property to ensure, they hope, a constant churn of visitors when they aren't using it.
'Villages like this have lost essential services over the decades, such as healthcare, education, banks and shops,' says Nicola, who, with 54-year-old Mickey, runs a medical manufacturing company.
'We hope to encourage tourists back and encourage the idea of renovating and rejuvenating these areas, and we want to start by working with the locals, young and old, on tours and experiences that we can offer while staying at Casa Alamanda. Moclin is considered to be the last border of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada and holds so much history, which should be remembered and shared.'
Although the subject of tourist lets stokes great antagonism in many Spanish cities and popular coastal destinations, where they are blamed for pushing up house prices beyond the reach of locals, in rural areas it's a different matter, says Rutter.
'Inland Spain relies on sustainable tourism to revitalise underpopulated areas, so tourism is positively encouraged. By renting out their properties, buyers are making a constant contribution to the local economy,' he says.
It's a similar story in rural Portugal, where properties are often handed down through the generations, and are of little appeal to younger family members who have long since left for the city.
Pedrógão Pequeno in the Castelo Branco region is one such town. It's less than two hours' drive from Porto and Lisbon, and set in stunning landscapes of mountains, lakes and river beaches. But with just 700 residents, its population is less than a third what it was 50 years ago. For a supermarket, bank or pharmacy, you need to drive to neighbouring Pedrógão Grande.
One of the few foreign residents is Paul Rees, founder of Rural Properties, who has spotted an opportunity in renovating ruined properties and selling them in fully-finished and modernised form to overseas buyers – three quarters of whom relocate to the area.
'You can find ruins for €20,000, but most buyers don't want to take on a big renovation job, and there is little fully complete stock for people to buy,' Rees says. 'Most properties aren't advertised for sale either, as people don't like paying an estate agent's commission. So if you go to a village, you'll see one For Sale sign that has been there for three years, but go to a local café and you'll hear about dozens of houses for sale when you get chatting to people.'
Rees does the chatting, the sourcing and the renovating – and buyers can have a say in the finishings and finer details. One current option, near the market town of Figueiro dos Vinhos, is a large, ruined stone 18th-century farmhouse set in a secluded hamlet with a river running through it, priced at €140,000 for the fully-finished, modernised version.
The rural lifestyle and relative affordability are the main attractions for buyers from the UK, Northern Europe and the US. But the villages also benefit, says Rees.
'Selling renovated properties to incomers helps breathe new life into towns and villages that have suffered decades of depopulation,' he says. 'People moving in means more money spent in the local bars and shops. If a family moves in, that's more kids for the village school. The locals are delighted. All they've seen for years is people moving away and never coming back, so they welcome newcomers.'
Christine Cole, who recently moved to central Portugal from Liverpool with her husband Simon, is renting a cottage while Rees renovates the 16th-century house in Pedrógão Pequeno that they have bought for €175,000. 'These houses are often left to ruin and some streets are almost entirely derelict. Locals are glad that people are moving in,' says Cole, 64, who co-runs an online retail business with Simon.
'It's hard if you don't speak Portuguese, so we are taking the free classes offered by the local council,' she adds. 'We love the feel here of the little communities. We have our bread delivered by a van – we just Whatsapp our order the day before. And the countryside is stunning.'
They moved to Portugal after having spent six months sorting their D7 residency visas first.
Mandy and James Walker moved to Castanheira de Pera – a picturesque village with beautiful river beaches – in 2020, after they were both made redundant during the pandemic. They paid €80,000 for an unrenovated stone house in the centre of the village.
'Our lounge used to house the Post Office and our barn was a tavern,' says Mandy, 59, whose cousin, a builder, has renovated their property for them.
'We're the only non-Portuguese residents in the village, and most people are fairly elderly. I know one child who lives here and a couple of teenagers. But we've been welcomed with open arms,' adds Walker, who now works as an estate agent for IAD Portugal.
Her clients are mainly foreign – Dutch, British, Americans and Israelis are amongst the current crop – and the sort of property they want, such as a fully-renovated two and three-bedroom houses with a garden, costs around €200,000.
'They want to get out of the rat race and this is a beautiful place to live. People here embrace families moving in. Once a house is renovated in a dilapidated village, others follow.'
It's a trend that many residents of Spain and Portugal's depopulating rural villages will hope holds true. Back in Moclín, Ian Rutter is doing everything he can to raise awareness of such locations.
'We love living here and our neighbours are like family,' he says. 'That sense of belonging, of family and of community is priceless and as long as we continue to help to assure the future of the village, then we will be happy.'