Patriotic repopulation: the plan to flee immigration in Spanish villages

The strategy of patriotic strongholds: repopulating Spain from controlled municipalities

The dream of founding a homogeneous community far from the diversity of big cities is revived in internet forums. The idea, inspired by the medieval Reconquista, proposes creating a network of patriot municipalities that act as a safeguard for a national identity that some consider threatened. It is not an organized movement, but its echo resonates in debates about depopulation, cheap housing, and local political control.

The formula is simple: identify small municipalities, preferably with a majority vote for PP and Vox, where the foreign population is scarce and housing prices are affordable. Places like Benavente (Zamora) or the Palencia mountains appear in the pools. A user who moved to Benavente recounted his experience: «Lots of Moors, blacks, ethnics» and ended up fleeing to a village in the Palencia mountains, which he describes as «wonderful». The problem, according to another participant, is not only immigration, but also the «reds» who vote for left-wing parties.

The economic factor: cheap housing and teleworking

Behind the identity rhetoric there is a real economic drive: fleeing expensive cities to villages with houses for 20,000 euros. A detailed analysis estimated the investment needed to rehabilitate an entire village with infrastructure (water treatment, energy) at 2 million euros. Families would need to be self-sufficient and develop a local productive fabric. «They can't go there to smoke joints and make a hippie eco-farm», said someone who has seen similar initiatives fail. The comparison with Israeli kibbutzim arises, but the collectivist model is quickly rejected.

The case of Benavente illustrates the tension: a logistics hub with services and work, but also drug trafficking and the presence of minorities that some consider excessive. Those who left for the Palencia mountains praise the tranquility and criticize the people of Benavente. It's not just immigration: there is also rejection of urban pogre that settles in villages, with its «vans, dogs, dreadlocks, and marijuana».

The difficulty of organizing

The main obstacle is the lack of real coordination. A participant who tried to create an Amish-style community confessed his failure: «No one wants to cooperate or give up anything». Others propose using the political route: running in municipal elections in tiny villages to control the town council and decide who gets in. «It should be projected so that our children and grandchildren occupy positions of power, police, town councils», one reads.

The disconcerting fact

The leader of the idea claims to already have his municipality «complete» and recommends looking at the 2019 and 2023 vote maps. But he also jokes: «You can even get together, gays, and make a lgtb patriot municipality». The proposal, somewhere between serious and dystopian, clashes with reality: empty Spain is being repopulated, yes, but not always with the desired profile. Meanwhile, the «brown tsunami» they antiestéticar continues its unstoppable course in the eyes of those who feel invaded.