Neglected for centuries, cave homes are taking the Spanish property market by storm, reports Heidi Fuller-love

There are cave houses all over Spain and pockets of grottoes can be found around the towns of Teruel and Murcia. But Iberia’s biggest troglodyte population is concentrated in northern Andalucia, along the hills – once used as a backdrop for Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns – that link Granada with Jaen, Almeria and Albacete.

Standing in the shadow of Granada’s mythical Alhambra, the gypsy caves of Sacromonte have been inhabited for thousands of years. Drive a few miles east and you’ll reach the Unesco World Heritage city of Guadix, where 2,000 folk live underground. From here, winding roads lead upward to the high-fl ung hamlet of Galera, where dozens of cave houses have been renovated over the past decade to create atypical holiday homes and original rented accommodation. Linked by three international airports – Almeria, Granada and Malaga – and surrounded by a stunning ring of mountains, this rugged region isn’t just a pot-holers’ paradise, either.

Barry Aslett, managing director of Old Farmhouses, a Murcia-based agency selling cave properties in Granada province, says: “There are several natural parks, and the vast Negratin lake is close by. Since most cave homes are only an hour’s drive from the coast and an hour from the Sierra Nevada ski slopes, you get the best of all worlds – as you can ski in winter, and swim and sail in summer, too.”

POTENTIAL

According to Barclays Bank’s latest Spanish trends report, British house-hunters are eschewing the Costa del Sol and other traditional destinations to invest in emerging inland areas. Les Edwards, of Galera-based estate agent Spanish Inland Properties, says: “With average annual growth hovering at less than 2 %, the resale market on the coast is dying on its feet, while inland properties are increasing in value by an average of 10%. Smart property-seekers are turning away from coastal resorts and seeking a more authentic and less expensive Spain inland.”

A recent survey carried out by www.propertyshowrooms.com also reveals that the base asking price for an unrenovated cave house in the Baza area is 50% less than the asking price of a similar home above ground, but when both properties have been renovated their resale value will be roughly the same.

“An undeveloped cave can be purchased for a very reasonable price and, since it’s generally easier to renovate than more traditional properties, there’s often a bigger profi t margin,” says Brendan Fitzpatrick of CASA SL, a family-run Spanish-registered estate agent based near the picturesque Spanish town of Baza.

Inland cave homes were once abandoned by job-hungry locals, who were lured away to the Costa del Sol with the advent of mass tourism in the 1970s. However, they are presently being “rediscovered” by canny expats seeking a safe fi nancial bet. “Even unreformed holes in the ground are a very good investment at the moment. My advice is to buy one and sit on it,” says Edwards.

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