Living in Empty Spain is sometimes difficult. Doing it without a bar in town is even more difficult. This is the situation in which a small town in the province of Guadalajara called Irueste finds itself. The city council has put out a nationwide appeal in search of “a family or couple” who wants to run this highly prized establishment. And with more than succulent conditions that have caught the attention of many.
On the one hand, those interested will have to pay “a symbolic price” of ten euros as rental of premises. As for the costs of supplies, they will only have to pay a small part, since “70% of the bar’s electricity is paid by the City Council,” says the mayor, Pedro del Olmo. To which he adds “that it is not nonsense, because it involves a large part of the municipal budget.”
In addition, the same town hall offers a newly renovated home for those interested. Annexed to the town hall building, it has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room with an integrated kitchen, as well as a pellet stove “that the tenants must purchase.” But the heating fee will be practically the only payment they will have to make: the rent will be free since it is also owned by the local administration. At the end of the day, this possibility arises since “growth in the town” is sought, explains Del Olmo.
All these advantages for the future inhabitants of the town of La Alcurria are not a coincidence, as they reside in the importance of the offer that the mayor does not hesitate to claim: “It is not a bar per se, but rather it is a social center and is enabled as a meeting and meeting point”. In fact, he tells EL MUNDO that “the Association of Friends of Irueste organizes some event […] in which between 100 and 120 people can gather.”
However, this is not the most common. The mayor says that on weekdays “five or eight people” can get together at the bar where while “they have a coffee or a beer in the afternoons they play cards, talk…”. And he does not forget to warn that “winters are for survival, not for making money,” while concluding that “this is Empty and Deep Spain.”
For this reason, they consider that the ideal candidate is “a family or a couple, so that one can run the bar and the other can dedicate themselves to other jobs.” Even telematically since it is estimated that in February Irueste will have fiber optics in operation, “although without it it also works well,” says Del Olmo.
While waiting for the perfect candidate to run the place to arrive, the City Council has had no choice but to pitch in. “We were left without a bar and the municipal corporation had to roll up our sleeves,” explains the mayor who now also “buys the drinks.”
At the moment they are opening for an hour and a half in the afternoons during the week, says Del Olmo while lamenting that on weekends “it gets complicated because more people come.” Faced with this situation, they have had to establish “a series of rules based on good faith” which states that “when they come in groups of more than two, one of them is responsible for serving and collecting.”
“At the moment there is no shortage of money in the drawer” boasts Del Olmo, while ensuring that his neighbors are “very grateful” for being able to continue enjoying their ‘social nucleus’.
Del Olmo has reported that the proposal was made a week ago, however, it did not bear the expected results. So they decided to make the appeal nationwide: “Now we are overwhelmed.”
With almost 600 emails in the mailbox of the Irueste City Council, its mayor predicts that in the month of January the bar “will be able to start flying on its own”, although first they will have to “make an assessment of the profiles to select the one that best suits “, a process that is possible to begin in “a couple of days.”
In fact, he says that “they will take it calmly” because they want when the concession is made “to be for a long time” and not make mistakes like on other occasions. The mayor insists that they are looking for “people who really want to live in a small town like this where 80% of the houses are empty.”
And he insists on this issue, since “a lot of people have been passing by and they come very comfortably, but the second winter can’t stand it anymore.” Because although it is a privileged place in summer – “at 8:30 p.m. you take out your cardigan” – “in winter you get up and it is difficult to see people,” Del Olmo laments.
Still, the bar offers an opportunity for anyone looking for tranquility, or even a new beginning, without the need for exorbitant outlays like those seen in big cities.
