The “Desperate” Plan to Keep Young People in the town
Benijófar’s youngsters are packing up and leaving — and the mayor has come up with a desperate plan to make them stay.
The small Alicante town, once surrounded by orange groves, has turned into a property hotspot for wealthy foreigners. Luxury villas now sell for up to €700,000, and prices have rocketed to €3,112 per square metre — among the highest in the province.
Half the residents are foreign, mostly from Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. For locals under 40, owning a home here is little more than a dream.
So Mayor Luis Rodríguez is offering something unheard of: free land.
The council will hand over a 4,500-square-metre plot in the centre of town, divided into 30 small lots. The catch? You’ve got to be under 40, live in Benijófar, and build the house yourself.
Each home will have to follow the same design rules to keep the look tidy, but the land itself will cost nothing. Instead of ownership, residents get a 75-year lease from the council.
“The plot’s right in the middle of town,” says Rodríguez. “Across the street, houses go for €350,000. Here, we’re giving young people a real chance to stay.”
The mayor is also in talks with local banks to help secure mortgages, since buyers won’t technically own the land. He reckons the average two-storey home will cost about €150,000 to build.
A Boost for Affordable Housing
The town isn’t stopping there. Benijófar has also signed up to the Vive Comunitat Valenciana Plan, a regional scheme to boost affordable housing.
A new deal with the Valencian Housing and Land Entity (EVHA) will see another 1,900-square-metre plot handed over for the construction of around 30 subsidised homes.
Builders will carry out the work in exchange for a share of the finished properties, which will go into the region’s stock of affordable rentals.
“The idea is to make housing accessible again,” said EVHA director Estefanía Martínez. “We’re joining forces with local councils and private builders to make it happen.”
Across the region, more than 300 towns have already signed up, with plans to deliver 10,000 new affordable homes.
For Benijófar, it’s a lifeline — and for its young residents, maybe their last chance to call it home.
