Salamanca has two heritages in permanent tension: that of the golden university city, with its Baroque Plaza Mayor and Plateresque facades that tourism has made an image of Spain, and that of the depopulated province, with its villages abandoned due to reservoir construction, its spas forgotten when modern medicine declared them useless, and its water mills stopped on the last day someone used them. The province of Salamanca is one of the most depopulated in the Meseta — and its abandonments carry the emotional weight of a Spain that disappeared silently. These are the 5 best abandoned places in Salamanca, selected from our Urbex Spain Map — 600+ GPS locations across Spain.
Why Salamanca Is an Exceptional Urbex Destination
The province of Salamanca concentrates in its south and west the effects of the longest rural depopulation in Spain — villages abandoned due to the construction of reservoirs like Gabriel y Galán, spas closed when modern medicine made them obsolete, and mills stopped when industrial flour replaced artisanal flour. The carte-urbex.com blog itself documents several of these sites as landmarks of Salamanca urbex.
1. Abandoned Village of Cabaloria – South of Salamanca — Rural Settlement Doomed by the Gabriel y Galán Reservoir, Ruined Romanesque Arcade, Las Batuecas Natural Park (Known Place)
Cabaloria is one of the most unique and mysteriously atmospheric abandoned villages in the province of Salamanca — a rural settlement in the south of the province condemned by the construction of the Gabriel y Galán reservoir, whose ruined Romanesque arcade is the most photogenic remnant of a village that went from prosperity to silence in just a few decades. Located very close to the Las Batuecas Natural Park and the Sierra de Francia, the landscape surrounding the ruins of Cabaloria adds a natural dimension to the architectural abandonment that few villages in Salamanca can match. Widely documented by Salamancahoy as one of the most mysterious and historically rich abandoned villages in the province.
🔗 Source: Salamancahoy – Cabaloria Abandoned Village Salamanca
2. Babilafuente Spa – Babilafuente, Salamanca — 19th Century Thermal Spa, Empty Pools, Ruined Treatment Rooms, Nostalgic Atmosphere (Known Place)
The Babilafuente Spa, in the small Salamanca town of the same name, was very popular during the 19th and early 20th centuries for its thermal waters. Over time, the place fell into neglect and today lies in ruins — the old empty pools, disused treatment rooms, and abandoned gardens create a nostalgic and mysterious atmosphere ideal for urban explorers seeking places with history. Documented on the carte-urbex.com blog as one of the best urbex sites near Salamanca.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Must-See Abandoned Sites in Spain →
3. Almenara de Tormes Mill – Almenara de Tormes, Salamanca — Abandoned Water Mill, Stone Structure Standing, Invasive Vegetation (Known Place)
The Almenara de Tormes Mill, on the outskirts of Almenara de Tormes, has been abandoned for decades — its stone structure still stands although much of the interior has been overtaken by vegetation. A quiet and secluded spot on the banks of the Tormes, perfect for urbex enthusiasts who enjoy the blend of nature and history. The Tormes flour mills are the most characteristic industrial type in the agricultural landscape of Salamanca: buildings that harnessed the river’s current to grind the cereal from the Meseta with an efficiency that industrial flour made obsolete in just a few decades. Documented on the carte-urbex.com blog.
🔗 Source: carte-urbex.com – Top 5 Must-See Urbex Sites near Salamanca
4. Abandoned Convent of the Sierra de Francia – South of Salamanca — 15th-16th Century Cloister, Convent Church, Cell with Flaking Frescoes, Surrounding Oak Forest (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 15th-16th century convent in the Sierra de Francia of Salamanca — the cloister with its granite arches and central well, the convent church with the collapsed vault, and the monks’ cells silent since the confiscation. The Sierra de Francia, with its uniquely mountainous architecture villages and oak forest, produces abandoned convents and hermitages of exceptional landscape specificity: the Salamanca granite, Atlantic rain, and oak forest envelop the buildings in a patina of time that Castilian granite does not produce anywhere else. GPS coordinates available on our Urbex Spain Map.
5. Abandoned Manor Palace – Ciudad Rodrigo Region — 18th Century Small Palace, Courtyard with Coat of Arms, Ruined Stables (Off the Radar — Only on Our Map)
An 18th-century small palace in the Ciudad Rodrigo region — the central courtyard with the coat of arms of the noble family who built it still carved in the granite stone of the entrance, the ruined stables, and the main rooms with the original slab floors collapsing. The Ciudad Rodrigo region, on the border with Portugal, preserves an exceptional number of abandoned palaces and manor houses — the border territory was for centuries one of the most strategically important in the Meseta, and its nobility built accordingly. Find it on our map — with access rating and condition report.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most famous abandoned place in Salamanca?
Cabaloria — the southern village of the province abandoned when the construction of the Gabriel and Galán reservoir forced its inhabitants to leave, leaving the Romanesque archway and the remains of the rural core near the Las Batuecas Natural Park. The Babilafuente Spa is the most specifically thermal abandonment and the most nostalgically atmospheric in the province.
Why are there so many abandoned villages in the province of Salamanca?
A combination of factors has exceptionally emptied the Salamanca province: the construction of several reservoirs that forced entire villages to be evacuated, the rural exodus of the 1950s-70s that emptied the smallest villages, and the ongoing depopulation of the Emptied Spain that continues to reduce the population of rural municipalities on the Plateau. Salamanca province has been losing inhabitants for decades, and its smallest villages have been abandoned for generations.
What was the Mendizábal disentailment and why did it affect Salamanca?
The Mendizábal Disentailment Law of 1836 dissolved convents and monasteries with fewer than 12 religious members and put Church property up for sale. Salamanca, with its long conventual tradition linked to the university, had an exceptionally high density of convents and monasteries; the disentailment emptied dozens of them in a few years, and those that found no buyer have been in progressive abandonment for almost two centuries.
Safety Tips
- Reservoirs: near villages abandoned due to reservoirs, water levels vary seasonally — always check the reservoir level before visiting villages like Cabaloria and never venture into areas that may be underwater
- Extreme cold in winter: the Salamanca Plateau can drop below -10°C in January — dress appropriately for any exploration during the winter months
- Never explore alone — always take at least one other person and share your location
The urbex code: "Leave everything as you found it — the next explorer deserves the same experience."
🎯 Summary
The abandoned places in Salamanca range from the Romanesque archway of Cabaloria to the empty pools of the Babilafuente Spa and the stone mill on the banks of the Tormes. Each of these 5 abandoned sites in Salamanca captures a different layer of the province that lost its villages to reservoir waters and its spas to modern medicine.
Urbex Map Spain
- ✓ 600+ GPS locations across Spain
- ✓ Exclusive locations not found anywhere else
- ✓ Instant access after purchase
- ✓ Free updates forever
€29.99
Explore the 600+ Locations →
