Repopulating with the 'unproductive': Spain's controversial empty housing plan

The proposal to move the 'unproductive' to Galicia and Castilla-La Mancha runs into local pride

The idea is circulating bluntly in economics forums: take advantage of the fact that more than half of Spain's empty housing is concentrated in Galicia and Castilla-La Mancha to redirect there the population deemed unproductive. The initiative, which includes migration filters and restrictions on purchases by foreigners, has triggered a visceral reaction among residents of those regions.

The three pillars of the plan

The scheme rests on three legs: expelling immigrants who do not generate a positive balance for the Social Security system, banning non-EU foreigners with less than ten years of contributions from buying property, and offering incentives for the unproductive to relocate to areas with high vacancy rates. In parallel, it proposes limiting purchases for rental purposes by non-nationals.

Territorial backlash: 'Don't touch Castilla-La Mancha'

The reaction from the targeted regions has been immediate and furious. Residents of Toledo, Albacete and Guadalajara – the latter already a commuter town for Madrid – defend their land as untouchable. The argument resonates: it is not about a lack of space, but about the fact that local identity and the local market will not accept a forced relocation of people they consider unwanted.

The controversy reflects the tension between a technocratic approach to empty housing and the social reality of territories unwilling to become the country's demographic dumping ground. Meanwhile, rents in cities like Valencia – 1,400 euros – keep climbing, and the search for radical solutions is intensifying.