By: Educate Inspire Change  There are literally thousands of villages in Spain up for sale. The price? As little as £50,000 (that’s about $80,000).

These villages can be found in Galicia, a fertile region of Spain located in the Northwest region of the country. Galicia once supported Spain’s highest density and half of all Spanish villages. There are 3,500 hamlets located there. Now, about half of them are abandoned.

In 2005, Neil Christie bought the tiny village of Arruñada which borders Asturias and Galicia. What did he pay for it? €45,000 (that’s about $53,000). Christie (61) moved there with his wife. She works as a teacher in a nearby school while he works on their home.

Christie had to demolish the walls of the home he has been renovating for over four years. He then rebuilt it all with the original stone.

Christie loves his new life. He stated to Daily News, “But apart from when I’m running out of tea bags there’s absolutely ­nothing I miss. The work I did in England could be very stressful. I found it difficult to relax at times. Here I’ve got zero pollution, fresh air and fresh water and I haven’t had to bankrupt myself to get it.”

Other people have worked hard to bring these tiny Spanish villages back to life. They raise livestock and work on rebuilding the old farm homes. Many people are also working on ways to bring people back to the villages. When jobs are hard to find in the big city, people may move back to focus on a homesteading lifestyle.