On a freezing winter day in northern Spain, we arrived in Bárcena de Bureba, a ghost village in the remote, depopulated hills of the Burgos province. For decades, this quiet place (perched among fields and crisscrossed by a pristine river) lay abandoned, its stone houses crumbling, roofs collapsed, and streets silent. Until now.

In 2024, Dutch pioneers Maaike Geurts and Tibor Strausz bought the nearly deserted village for the price of an entry-level apartment in the Netherlands, with a bold vision: to breathe new life into a forgotten corner of “la España vaciada (or vacía),” emptied rural Spain.

Their project (called Ardbol) isn’t just about restoring old walls. It’s about building a community rooted in sustainability, cooperation, and creativity. They’ve begun repairing roofs, installing solar panels, and improving basic infrastructure.

The river that courses near the village provides vital water, and surrounding fields are being planted with trees and food crops as part of their long-term vision for a regenerative food forest.

Rather than keep this place to themselves, Maaike and Tibor are inviting others to buy and rebuild a ruin of their own. People from across Europe — and even the U.S. — have begun arriving, drawn by more than cheap real estate: they’re seeking connection, meaning, and a chance to shape a community together.

At our visit in early January 2026, the valley’s cold winds reminded us of how raw and early this rebirth still is. But the warmth of vision — and the traces of people already carving out new lives here — confirmed something rare: what once was a ghost village is now becoming a home again.