Pedro Barba, the ghost village of La Graciosa surviving on a handful of seasonal houses

North of Caleta de Sebo, several kilometres away along dirt tracks, lies Pedro Barba, La Graciosa's other settlement and, according to municipal sources, the most extreme example of the depopulation threatening the archipelago's smaller villages. What was once a small fishing harbour, and later a private hunting and fishing estate, is today a small cluster of homes that remain closed for most of the year.

From private estate to summer colony

For decades, Pedro Barba belonged to a private estate used for hunting and fishing, and only a limited number of families keep a home there, almost always as a seasonal second residence. According to residents' sources, the settlement has no stable registered population, and its houses are opened mainly during the summer months or for the occasional fishing trip.

No infrastructure for permanent living

Unlike Caleta de Sebo, Pedro Barba lacks the minimum services — regular water supply, shops or a daily ferry connection — that would make a permanent home there feasible, which in practice rules out this settlement absorbing any of the housing pressure faced by the island's main village.

For the authorities managing La Graciosa, Pedro Barba is a case apart: it is not a housing alternative within reach of Graciosan families, but a near-uninhabited enclave whose future lies more in heritage conservation than in any conventional housing policy.

A different model from other abandoned villages in the Canary Islands

Unlike other small rural villages in the archipelago actively seeking to repopulate through housing incentives, Pedro Barba does not feature among any authority's priorities as a destination for new residents, given the total absence of basic infrastructure. Officials consulted compare its situation to that of other former private estates across the islands, where heritage and scenic value take precedence over any residential development plan.

The fishing tradition that endures

Despite the small number of inhabited houses, Pedro Barba maintains some activity linked to seasonal fishing, with families travelling there during the busiest months. Residents' sources explain that this seasonal activity is, in practice, the only thing preventing the settlement's total abandonment, though it is not enough to sustain any kind of property market.