… is a phrase on a sign often on the Camino. It means ‘for sale’. There are a lot of houses, flats, apartments, sections and shops for sale in rural Spain (as well as many cities).
On the way from Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada we walked through a subdivision connected with a golf course. The advertising suggested owning one of these houses or apartments got you membership to the club as well as other privileges. There were a lot of ‘se vende’ signs – in some cases three or four in a row. There was a whole apartment block that looked unoccupied. It was like a dystopian movie – pilgrims walking through a deserted neighborhood on their way to a far off destination.
This is a common issue in Spain. People are leaving small towns and moving to the big cities. The recent financial crisis hasn’t helped either with people abandoning their homes rather than paying unsustainable mortgages.
As pilgrims, what we see as old and quaint and rural can have a serious backstory.