€48,000 for an 80 m² campsite plot facing possible expropriation
A forum user refuses to pay €48,000 for an 80 m² plot in a campsite under a municipal concession in Spain: he fears losing his investment if the council expropriates it paying only rural land rates.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Paying €48,000 for 80 m² at a campsite and owning nothing
A buyer with €20,000 in savings runs into a seller who, seeing his enthusiasm, raises the price of an 80 m² plot with a run-down cabin to €48,000. The deal falls through. The problem is not just the price: according to the forum user's account, the plot is part of a municipal concession, and a change of government could see it expropriated with compensation based on rural land values, at €6 per square metre.
The case, raised on a responsible consumer forum, describes a model that, according to the account, repeats itself along the coast: private campsites turned into owner associations where nothing is rented, only bought, and where community rules are trinc to the letter or you leave.
What you actually buy in a private campsite
According to the forum user, you are not buying land. You buy a share in a company that operates an administrative concession. That means the land remains municipal property and legal certainty depends on whether the council renews the concession or not. If the local government changes political colour and decides to take the land back, compensation is calculated on the value of rural land, not on what was paid for the plot or the cabin built on it.
The seller justified the price with a previous sale: "3 years ago Manolito's plot down there sold for 60 grand". An argument that, without any deed to back it, is worth about as much as a Monopoly banknote.
Fees, rules and expulsions: the neighbourhood as a contract of adhesion
According to the account, the plot fee covers maintenance of common areas, security, cleaning and a site manager. There are no rentals, only owners, and anyone who breaks the community rules is out of the association. The appeal is obvious for anyone fleeing the noise: detached wooden cabins, no neighbours overhead, and in winter only 10 or 12 of the 50 plots occupied.
The risk is there too. At a campsite, the gap between cabins can be just one metre, according to the account. Anyone who has endured a neighbour tapping their heel on the floor for forty minutes knows that physical distance does not guarantee acoustic peace.
The alternative nobody wants to hear: rent before you buy
The most repeated advice is to try it first. Rent a plot for a year, or a house in a coastal rural area, before committing your savings to a model with legal and neighbourhood risks. In areas like rural Galicia, annual rentals have been offered for €1,500, a figure that does not even cover half of what is asked for a share.
Some compare the campsite to a low-cost housing estate, while others point out that inland campsites work like gated communities where the veterans end up believing they own the place. The difference between a plot and a home is that the former can be lost with no one returning what you invested.
The calculation that puts things in perspective
An entire campsite in Greece, with a building, café, mini-supermarket, barbecue area and zip lines, was on offer for €86,000 plus taxes, according to one user. Under €100,000 for the lot. The 80 m² plot on the Spanish coast was going for €48,000. The comparison is not perfect, but it leaves an uncomfortable question: how much is a share really worth that can vanish with a council signature?
A buyer with €20,000 in savings runs into a seller who, seeing his enthusiasm, raises the price of an 80 m² plot with a run-down cabin to €48,000. The deal falls through. The problem is not just the price: according to the forum user's account, the plot is part of a municipal concession, and a change of government could see it expropriated with compensation based on rural land values, at €6 per square metre.
The case, raised on a responsible consumer forum, describes a model that, according to the account, repeats itself along the coast: private campsites turned into owner associations where nothing is rented, only bought, and where community rules are trinc to the letter or you leave.
What you actually buy in a private campsite
According to the forum user, you are not buying land. You buy a share in a company that operates an administrative concession. That means the land remains municipal property and legal certainty depends on whether the council renews the concession or not. If the local government changes political colour and decides to take the land back, compensation is calculated on the value of rural land, not on what was paid for the plot or the cabin built on it.
The seller justified the price with a previous sale: "3 years ago Manolito's plot down there sold for 60 grand". An argument that, without any deed to back it, is worth about as much as a Monopoly banknote.
Fees, rules and expulsions: the neighbourhood as a contract of adhesion
According to the account, the plot fee covers maintenance of common areas, security, cleaning and a site manager. There are no rentals, only owners, and anyone who breaks the community rules is out of the association. The appeal is obvious for anyone fleeing the noise: detached wooden cabins, no neighbours overhead, and in winter only 10 or 12 of the 50 plots occupied.
The risk is there too. At a campsite, the gap between cabins can be just one metre, according to the account. Anyone who has endured a neighbour tapping their heel on the floor for forty minutes knows that physical distance does not guarantee acoustic peace.
The alternative nobody wants to hear: rent before you buy
The most repeated advice is to try it first. Rent a plot for a year, or a house in a coastal rural area, before committing your savings to a model with legal and neighbourhood risks. In areas like rural Galicia, annual rentals have been offered for €1,500, a figure that does not even cover half of what is asked for a share.
Some compare the campsite to a low-cost housing estate, while others point out that inland campsites work like gated communities where the veterans end up believing they own the place. The difference between a plot and a home is that the former can be lost with no one returning what you invested.
The calculation that puts things in perspective
An entire campsite in Greece, with a building, café, mini-supermarket, barbecue area and zip lines, was on offer for €86,000 plus taxes, according to one user. Under €100,000 for the lot. The 80 m² plot on the Spanish coast was going for €48,000. The comparison is not perfect, but it leaves an uncomfortable question: how much is a share really worth that can vanish with a council signature?
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (24 replies).
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