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A well-manicured Spanish ghost town

• Mark Mardell
• 28 Feb 08, 08:22 AM

Francisco Hernando Village is neat and well-manicured for a ghost town. The complex near , should be home to around 40,000 people, but as I wander around I hardly see a soul.

Will places like this be the key to ?

The climbing-frames and swings in the playground are in bright primary colours, their shine unscuffed by children鈥檚 feet.

No one disturbs the unbroken views across the park, with its neat line of spring flowers, shaded areas and rows of palm trees.

No one stares across the large crescent-shaped lake at the 100-foot high fountain.

Three sides of a large, new and modern block of flats, brown brick and big balconies, curve round a wide-open space complete with a court of ball games and a large swimming pool.

Not a splash, not the bounce of a ball disturbs the peace of the late morning.

Science fiction movie

In fact it鈥檚 rather like some science fiction movie about a happy town where the whole population has been spirited away by some unknown alien force.

I am not, however, investigating anything quite so melodramatic, but how the economy is playing in Spain鈥檚 general election which takes place on 9th March.

I鈥檓 told that until now both Spanish politicians and voters alike treated the economy like a force of nature but now 鈥渋t鈥檚 the economy stupid鈥� is true here too.

So the population of this town has not disappeared but simply never arrived, or at least has yet to do so.

The development of 13,500 flats is one of the largest in Spain. On one of the well laid-out roundabouts is a statue of a man and a woman, looking a little like Prince Charles with his arm around a younger Mrs Thatcher.

This is Francisco Hernando and his wife. His is an amazing story.

Richest man

He is said to be Spain鈥檚 richest man from very humble beginnings. According to Spanish financial papers, he can鈥檛 write and can barely read, yet has made a fortune, originally building sewerage systems.

This project is his brainchild, a plan to provide relatively low-cost housing in a country where many people cannot afford to take out a mortgage in the first place.

From a distance, in the smoggy air, this could be mistaken for a boom town.

Tall cranes loom over half-built apartments marching across the plain.

But look for a little while and none of the cranes moves an inch. No ant-like workers are scurrying around their base. Work has stopped on the latest stage of this project.

Although there are some local political problems the same is true all over Spain. It is not just at siesta time that the machines stand idle.

'For Sale'

Eventually I catch sight of a man hanging out a 鈥淔or Sale鈥� sign out on the balcony of his fourth floor flat.

We have a shouted conversation until he comes down to talk. He seems happy to do an interview until he learns we're British: he wants publicity in Spain.

He bought the flat as an investment but hasn鈥檛 been able to sell it as yet. He tells us the economy has definitely slowed down, but he is confident that he will sell in the end, it鈥檒l just take more time..

, tells me the problems here are typical.

For many, Spanish property means not a home but an investment. There has been a huge, continuing building boom for years. Some of the statistics are staggering.

More new homes were built in Spain in the last five years than in France, Germany and Britain put together.

Half the cement made in Europe ended up in Spain. But Dr Seisdedos says builders used their profits to reinvest and build more. Because of the worsening economy, including rocketing food prices, people aren鈥檛 buying.

So there鈥檚 no money to invest and the banks aren鈥檛 lending because of the world crisis. , he says.

And it matters because so much of the Spanish economy is tied up with construction. When the cranes stand idle it means unemployment is going up.

Investment property

Back at the flats, I finally spot a really live resident. Eugine Nicholov, who鈥檚 originally from Ukraine, is out kicking a ball around with his curly-haired little girl and his wife.

It would make a good picture for an advert. He bought their flat six years ago and moved into it as soon as it was ready last September.

He says of the 290 apartments in this block only about 50 have been bought. He says very few people actually live here, for most it鈥檚 an investment.

There are a few more people around at the weekends, but there are only a handful of cars in the underground garage and you need a car to get around here.

I say that it must be very odd living in a place like this. Eugine replies that it鈥檚 not as bad as you鈥檇 think, it鈥檚 very peaceful and you don鈥檛 get disturbed by noisy neighbours.

Burst bubble

But he says the and if he had to sell up now he鈥檇 lose money.

There鈥檚 an advert taped to a lamppost. The man at the other end of the phone, who lives in Madrid, says he鈥檚 got 12 flats and is selling at less than cost price.

He is in this for the money and would, of course, sell for more if he could. But he thinks they will shift in the end.

I hope you know I always welcome your comments: but more than ever on this story, which I won鈥檛 be broadcasting until next week just before the elections.

Am I right that the economy is the big issue in this election? Is property the key? What about unemployment and food prices? If you live in Spain, or know it well, how does it feel to you?

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