Berreta: the ghost town near Rosario where only eight people live

In the department of Iriondo, Santa Fe Province, there lies a ghost town. Currently home to just eight people, it is located 75 kilometres and 50 minutes from the centre of Rosario, the famous city known as the ‘Cuna de la Bandera’ (“Cradle of the Flag”). It is a desolate spot bordering the Carcarañá River and it has a peculiar story of its own to tell. 

This small locality is called Berreta. In its heyday it was home for as many as 500 people, but with the passing of time, and the closing of a nearby railway branch that passed through the area, it has gradually lost inhabitants. 

The village was founded in 1925 following the donation of the land by its owner María Luisa Correa. Its name is a tribute to the civil engineer Sebastián Beretta, who dedicated himself to the construction of different railway branches back in the 1880s, when the industry was at its peak.

The passenger train service ran until the 1970s, although some freight trains continued to run regularly until around 1990. The complete closure of the railway, and the fact that Ruta Nacional 9 does not pass through, provoked an exodus of remaining residents.

At present there are only eight people left in Beretta, separated across three families. Most of the houses in the region have been abandoned and there are no hospitals or museums in the village either.