A prison, 510 flats and thousands of empty homes: how the Basque Country is adding public housing

In February, 37 families in Benta Berri, San Sebastián, learned that their landlord would not renew their leases, according to El Salto. On 21 October, the Basque Government announced it was buying their homes. It is one of three ways the Basque Country is adding public housing. The caveat: the purchase is expected to be signed before the end of the year, and the Martutene prison project is still going through the approval process.

From prison to neighbourhood

The former Martutene prison has been empty since June, when its inmates moved to the new Zubieta prison, Orain reports. On its site and the land around it, the Txomin Enea II project plans some 400 homes, with priority for protected and affordable housing. On 4 November, Spain’s Housing Minister, Isabel Rodríguez, Basque housing minister Denis Itxaso and San Sebastián’s mayor, Jon Insausti, met in Madrid: they confirmed that the city council will hand all its land in the area to the Basque Government and are drafting an agreement to share the work and costs, according to the Basque Government. Insausti expects the prison to be demolished in the first half of 2027.

José María Sert square in the Benta Berri neighbourhood of San Sebastián. Photo: Joxemai · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

510 flats that will keep their protection

Benta Berri’s protected flats belong to Testa Residencial, owned by the Blackstone fund, and their protection was due to end in November 2028. The Basque Government is buying them for €100 million, about €196,000 per home including garage and storage room, according to El Salto. With the purchase, the 510 homes will stay protected rentals permanently and their tenants will stay in their homes, Orain reported.

Empty homes that open their doors again

The third route is Bizigune: owners of an empty flat hand it to the public company Alokabide, which lets it at a protected rent, guarantees the owner’s rent is paid on time and commits to handing the flat back in good condition. At the end of 2024 the programme was managing 7,375 homes, according to Alokabide’s annual report.

Why this is good news

The Basque Country is adding public housing without relying only on new building: it is recovering public land, buying flats that were about to lose their protection and putting empty homes back to use. This is the fourth stop on our 11 November housing special.