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Spain: Castile & Leon (Castilla Y León)

Overview

The region of Castile and Leon (Old Castile) is the largest in Spain (94,147km2/36,350mi2) encompassing one-fifth of Spain’s northern meseta. Despite its vast area, the region is one of the least populated in Spain with a total population of just 2.48 million and a population density of 27 people per km2, one of the lowest in Spain. Castile and Leon occupies the northern half of the old Kingdom of Castile, containing the provinces of Avila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora, which are also the names of the region’s principal towns (Valladolid is the region’s capital). It’s a region with a rich historical and architectural heritage, noted for its majestic castles and magnificent, perfectly-preserved towns and cities. Castile and Leon’s most famous towns include Avila (one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Spain with imposing city walls); Burgos (the birthplace of El Cid); Salamanca (a majestic, welcoming city with an ancient university, dubbed the city of gold after its golden sandstone) and Segovia with its incomparable Roman aqueduct. Like Castile-La Mancha, Castile and Leon’s rural areas have suffered greatly from depopulation (many villages have a frontier feeling), as the young have left to seek work in the cities.

The region consists almost entirely of the Duero basin, a seemingly endless limestone plain surrounded by mountains, and is noted for its wide valleys, rocky pinnacles, gentle rolling hills and vast plateau. It also takes in the Sierra de Gredos, a spectacular unspoilt area that has hardly changed in centuries. It’s mainly an agricultural region where grain crops dominate (it’s the bread basket of Spain), with some livestock and vegetables, although it also has some important industries, including mines and nuclear power stations. The Ribera de Duero area (on the banks of the Duero river) in Burgos province reputedly produces the best red wines in Spain (they’re certainly some of the most expensive) and among the best in the world. Castile and Leon has a Continental climate with long cold winters and short hot summers with low rainfall (the climate has been described as nine months of winter and three of hell). The region is of little interest to foreign homebuyers unless you’re interested in setting up a rural accommodation business, currently a huge growth industry in the region.

© Survival Books Limited 2005

“Buying a Home in Spain 2006” 5th Edition, David Hampshire.

Reproduced with the permission of Survival Books Limited.

Further information on this topic can be found in “Buying a Home in Spain 2006” 5th edition, by David Hampshire.

For extensive, annually updated information about buying a property in Spain, you can purchase this book at www.survivalbooks.net

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