Wednesday, February 02, 2011

A haven of tranquillity

Imagine living in a village where the youngest person is 65 years old, where there are only 15 permanent residents, where the last baby was born 40 years ago – that would be Olmeda de la Cuesta, 100 miles east of Madrid in the Castilla-La Mancha region.

In 1940 the population was 500 but since then many have left to find work elsewhere. There hasn’t been a wedding, or baptism or communion in the 16th century church in decades and the local school closed in 1974.

Now, the village is hoping to attract young people back by offering plots of land at a starting price of 2,000 Euros. They say it is the perfect place for those who can work at home e.g. web designers, artists or writers or those looking for a weekend retreat in the country and add, that for families with children, there would be no shortage of baby sitters!

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