Spain: Ghost villages, castles and churches in the empty north

In Spain three out of four municipalities are losing inhabitants, and in some villages nobody lives any more. Then there are castles without residents, churches without roofs and a town that the Civil War destroyed and that was left standing as a ruin. On a long journey through the north in 2022, from Catalonia across the Pyrenees, Navarre and the Basque Country to Galicia, I went looking for such places.

Hard to find, quickly destroyed

Large and sprawling as Spain is, and rich in history, the country rarely turns up when you research remarkable abandoned places. Sadly this is partly because vandalism is enormous as soon as such places become better known, for no reason that I can make sense of. The graffiti scene is very large too, and abandoned places are often defaced and trampled in a short time.

The search is difficult, the distances long and time-consuming, yet none of that was going to stop me. Many people associate Spain above all with sunshine, the south and beach holidays. How varied nature is, especially in the north, surprised and delighted me once again. I had to neglect the south, partly for lack of time, because I found most of the possible destinations in the north. So the journey led through Catalonia, across the Spanish Pyrenees, Navarre and the Basque Country to Galicia, and back through the centre of the country.

Why are Spain’s villages emptying?

In 2020 the Spanish government put the situation into figures. Of 8,131 municipalities, 6,232 lost inhabitants between 2010 and 2019. Almost 5,000 municipalities have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, and in 3,926 municipalities, which together cover 48 per cent of the country, fewer than 12.5 people live per square kilometre. In Spain this land is called España vaciada, emptied Spain.

Anyone who knows my earlier work knows of my love for old ghost places, mountain villages above all. Here too Spain keeps unique places hidden, very remote and hard to reach, true oases of silence. Often only unpaved tracks lead there, or you go on foot, and more than once the last few kilometres took me a long time, always hoping to get anywhere near by car. I was rewarded with beauty empty of people, wonderful sunsets and inspiring hours in the best of air. At first you wonder how and why places could arise in such isolation. Once you finally stand high up on the plateau, every question is quickly answered. Yet such places hardly fit into today’s fast and driven society.

Belchite

One place was not abandoned but destroyed. Old Belchite in Aragon was besieged and devastated in the Spanish Civil War. The survivors moved to a new town right beside it, inaugurated in 1954, and the ruins were left standing. Guided visits have been offered since 2013. In January 2025 the World Monuments Fund placed old Belchite on its list of 25 sites facing particular threats.

Castles, tended and forgotten

The abundance of distinctive castles and palaces is considerable, and it was hard to decide which to concentrate on. Some are opened up and cared for, some are completely forgotten ruins.

The Castillo de Butrón near Gatika in the Basque Country goes back to a medieval tower house and was given its Gothic Revival form in 1878 by the architect Francisco de Cubas. In December 2021 it was sold to an investor. It has since been restored but, as private property, remains closed. The Castillo de Zafra in the province of Guadalajara has stood on a sandstone outcrop since the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. A private owner rebuilt it from ruins from 1972 onwards.

A school, a palace and the churches

Indoors, too, I was able to see special time capsules, above all the Escuela Aguirre at Siones in the Mena valley, with a classroom in its original state. With fine furniture, chairs and desks anchored to the floor and splendidly decorated walls, it bears witness to a splendour nobody would suspect in that sleepy little village. It was endowed by Lucas Aguirre; the building was inaugurated in 1901 and used as a school until 1969. Impressive in a different way was the palace of an industrialist in Catalonia with its staircase full of arcades. These were destinations that made the long distances forgotten.

There are countless abandoned churches. In Spain they have a style all their own, not as rich in frescoes as in Italy, but with fascinating altar areas.

Navarre and the Basque Country

The varied mountains alone made the journey worthwhile, and the landscapes of Navarre and the Basque Country were my highlight. The Bardenas Reales in the south of Navarre are a semi-desert of gypsum and clay, a natural park since 1999 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2000.

I have noted countless destinations for future journeys. In October 2024 I went back to Spain.

Spain is one of the twelve countries in my book VERGESSENE PRACHT, published by Frederking & Thaler in 2023.

The pictures

Photographs from Spain from the series EVERMORE, AIRSCAPES, RISE AND FALL, DREAMSCAPES and others.