Femés, the inland village in Yaiza losing residents just ten minutes from Playa Blanca's property boom

Less than ten minutes' drive from Playa Blanca, one of the most heated property markets in Lanzarote, lies Femés, a small inland village in the municipality of Yaiza living a completely different reality. While the coast draws tourists, foreign buyers and rising prices, Femés is heading the other way: according to municipal sources, its population is flat or even falling, and several traditional homes in the village centre stay shut for much of the year.

Empty houses beside an overheated coastal market

Residents of Femés explain that many of the village's homes belong to families who no longer live permanently on the island, or who keep them as an occasional second home while working or living on the coast. Property sector sources confirm that there is barely any sales activity in the village, in stark contrast to the almost constant flow recorded by property portals for Playa Blanca, just a few kilometres away.

Scenic appeal does not always translate into demand

Femés boasts spots of great scenic value, such as the area around the Atalaya de Femés and the viewpoints over the Los Ajaches massif, which draw walkers and passing visitors. Yet tourism sector sources point out that this interest does not translate into housing demand: those working in tourism in the south prefer to settle near the coast, where the jobs are, and see the daily commute from inland as a drawback rather than an advantage.

The challenge of keeping the island's interior alive

Yaiza Town Council acknowledges that the contrast between its coastal strip and inland villages such as Femés is one of the municipality's biggest territorial imbalances, and that reversing it would require specific incentives to retain residents and make it easier to restore the traditional homes now standing empty.