Alicante Village Appeals for New Residents in the Face of Depopulation

Many years ago, the tiny village of La Encina in Villena, Alicante, was known to be one of the most important and busy railway hubs in Spain.

It is situated at a crossroads between Castilla-La Mancha’s highland plateau, la Meseta, and the Mediterranean Sea. The land is rich and fertile and the prosperous area received many visitors from across the country up until the end of the last century.

However, today things look very different in La Encina. The village has become practically deserted and the residents that are left have sounded the alarm in nearby city Villena. They need new inhabitants.

One of the main problems is that there are hardly any children left. Only five attend the local school, and unless new residents make their home in the village, the school is likely to close.

Next year, these students will move up into secondary education, which means that the primary school will have to be shut down unless there is a minimum of five students to attend lessons.

La Encina is located 18 km from the urban centre of Villena, which is a bustling and busy city rich in history and culture, particularly from Medieval times. It is situated next to the provinces of Valencia and Albacete, and has a total of 200 inhabitants.

The town hall of La Encina is calling out to residents of its largest neighbouring city to come to the village to live instead, and trying to entice them by offering them the delights of clean-living and being closer to nature and the natural environment.

In terms of services, there is a family doctor in the village three times a week, a chemist, a bus that connects the residents to Villena two days of the week in winter and three days in summer, and a train station with lines to Valencia and Alicante. There are gardens, allotments, a church, cemetery and post office amongst other things.

The town hall has confirmed that there are 15 houses for sale in the village and several up for rent, and prices are very affordable.

With regards to businesses, there is plenty of activity at the two farms, two quarries, the solar energy plant, two restaurants and the huge plots of surrounding agricultural land.

Source: www.diarioinformacion.com