Portugal has the same thing although I've found there are many more dilapidated ruins/condemned buildings, even right in the center of major cities. Just walk

Portugal has the same thing although I've found there are many more dilapidated ruins/condemned buildings, even right in the center of major cities. Just walk around Porto or Lisbon (you could use google street view), and it won't take long before you see a boarded-up or completely ruined lot/building in the middle of the city. Sometimes these places seem like prime real estate, or you can tell they were incredible properties in their prime. My relatives told me it was because there's no property tax, so there's no cost to letting a property sit idle. Also they described how families will pass down property between generations, often the younger generation moves away, only owning a fraction of the property as it is split between siblings, and then split again between cousins, etc..., until it's left without care takers with a vested interest or willingness to spend on maintenance and improvements. I'm not sure if that's the case, but it seemed like a plausible explanation. You'd think after decades of neglected properties the government would try to change incentives to deal with this. But of course property-related legal/tax changes can be very difficult to pass.