The old schools in Gerbe (Aínsa) were built in 1943 and when the classrooms were closed they were turned into a warehouse. Almost 80 years have passed and the old school, which also housed the town hall, will have a second chance. The exodus from the countryside to the city left it empty, but now the Aínsa City Council, its current owner, he will remodel it as a home for those who make the return trip.
Gerbe’s is just one example of the numerous municipal initiatives that have emerged in the province of Huesca to convert old disused buildings into rental apartments for young people and new neighbors that allow the rural environment to be repopulated. This concern has found the protection of the Housing Plan of the Provincial Council, created in 2020 with the formula of loans to local corporations without interest, to be repaid in 30 years. It is already in its second edition and the forecast is to keep it for at least four years.
The success of the call has been such that the budget for 2021 has already been exhausted and has had to be extended twice due to the flood of applications. The initial amount of 1,700,000 euros was increased by 500,000 and now another item of 750,000 euros is being processed. If last year 14 municipalities were welcomed, this year they are 22. At this point in the year, as many loans have been granted as in the entire previous year.
Before buying an abandoned private home, most municipalities choose to rehabilitate unused public facilities. Thus, Aínsa has requested funding from the Provincial Council to rehabilitate the aforementioned building in Gerbe, the old town hall of Arro, that of Arcusa and the schools and the house of the teacher from Guaso. Similar cases abound in the list of requests: an old smithy in Junzano (Casbas de Huesca), the Valle de Lierp school, the Fosado school (La Fueva) or the Colungo school, the Ballobar teachers’ house or the secretary’s house. of Plan. Benabarre has bought the convent and will remodel it for four houses and Aísa will reform the old abbey building for two apartments.
The second plan of the Provincial Council will also reach Vencillón, Osso de Cinca, Candasnos, Alcubierre, El Grado, Puente de Montañana, Fago, Nueno, Fiscal and Laluenga. Later Valfarta, Baells, Alcampell, Lascellas-Ponzano, Fonz and Ontiñena joined.
The loan is granted to build rental housing for young people and new residents through the rehabilitation of public buildings, the most frequent option, or the purchase of buildings or plots from individuals. What has not worked is the option of the transfer of use of the property for a time with the commitment to recover it already rehabilitated.
The deadline ends on December 31, “But the budget has already been exhausted, despite the expansion we did in June”, comments the deputy Miriam Ponsa. Now there is another one underway. “There is a lack of housing in rural areas, but municipalities are beginning to put solutions to facilitate that both the youngest and those interested in settling in, can undertake a life project in rural areas,” he declares.
City councils like Aínsa and Benabarre have repeated. The mayor of the first municipality, Enrique Pueyo, says that in addition to offering a life opportunity, “the plan offers us a way to recover public heritage.” Before buying private buildings, he has chosen to rehabilitate “those that we have”, and recognizes that without this help it would be impossible and those buildings would remain “closed and unused, when housing is needed, because there is a demand from people who want to come and live in Aínsa. “This city council has 26 centers under its charge.
The investment planned by this city council is 600,000 euros for four apartments. “We are talking about very old buildings, mostly built in stone and with a flagstone roof, and taking this material to according to which areas has a very high cost. It is not the same to fix a house in Huesca as in Gerbe “. Now the two requested projects are going to start in 2020.
Aínsa is an example of a municipality that receives many visitors and has a shortage of housing. In fact, the City Council suspended the licenses for new tourist apartments to guarantee a sufficient supply of accommodation at affordable prices to workers who want to settle and young couples who live here. “There are few houses available and they are expensive due to pressure from tourism.”
The residents of the towns applaud these initiatives. Miguel Ángel García Pascual, secretary of the Gerbe Neighborhood Association, assures that they are enthusiastic about the rehabilitation of the old town hall. “There is rental housing for tourism but professionals who want to settle do not find anything and these peoples need stable families that take root ”.
24 people live in Gerbe and only one family is from the village. It was expropriated to build the Mediano reservoir but it was not flooded and the buildings were reversed. They all passed into private hands. “There is no square here because we do not have public properties, except for the old school-town hall and the so-called Casetón de los Pobres, nor are there lots to buy, but almost half the houses are abandoned and in ruins”Laments García Pascual.
In the case of Benabarre, its mayor, Alfredo Sancho, explains that “opening the possibility to the arrival of eight new families is a great incentive.” Last year he obtained a loan from the Provincial Council for three houses and this will be another five. “It is essential that the administrations look for formulas to avoid the loss of population and to facilitate the arrival of new inhabitants, but the small municipalities cannot face this challenge alone”, he declares.
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