As you push aside the foliage and descend the stone steps to Francisco Maroto's house, a small rainbow-striped sticker by the door signals the revolution achieved in this tiny village north-east of Madrid.

From the Spanish capital, you drive 78 miles across parched meseta and reach a verdant valley overshadowed by the Ocejon mountain, where slate-roofed houses dot the hillsides around Campillo de Ranas. Some are new, others restored, but they exude a prosperity rare among villages hereabouts, most of which are dying.

Read More...