The directors of Survey Spain have been digital nomads for most of the summer, able to administer our surveyors/home inspectors and valuers/appraisers from afar.
With the miracle of cloud computing, there isn’t really any difference between being in an office or in a motorhome. So now we are in …wait, checking the weather App, … a village in rural Valencia.
As we walked round the 2 bars, Farmacia, Church, Ayuntamiento and, oh yes, the Olive Oil Cooperative, we wondered why anyone would chose to stay here. We are here because it’s a free place with water and wastewater station, provided by the community and with quiet neighbours as its close to the cemetery.
Difficulties of keeping rural towns alive
Maybe a bit hard on the place, but one can see the difficulties of keeping rural towns alive, with senior school kids having to leave for secondary education possibly to Castellón, and then even University in Barcelona or Valencia.
Once they’ve enjoyed the urban delights, they could find visiting the old town very boring. However, they are likely to afford the rent (390€ a month for a 3 bed!!) or even mortgage, as the price is likely to be a quarter of what they’d pay in the city. Perhaps that, and the almost countrywide availability of fast(ish) mobile and even cable internet, will encourage young families with internet-based income to return to the simpler life where they can raise their children.
City centres, and especially those with a strong tourist attraction, appear to be on the road to collapsing, as the prices paid by investors and Airbnb renters make it impossible for staff to find homes, and so the restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels are finding they can no longer operate or need to raise wages and therefore prices that will turn away the tourists. If that happens, the income for the investors will drop and so prices will fall.
Much too simple an economic outlook, but someone will need to find an answer to these problems. Maybe it will turn to rural tourism as that can be so rewarding, such as finding places like those in the photos.
