In 1956, Villafranco del Delta was founded in a wetlands area, and with it the building that is Poblenou del Delta Xanascat hostel today. 
This village was founded as a part of Amposta, the outcome of an initiative by the National Colonisation Institute (agricultural colonisation), which aimed to allow rice farmers in the region to have new homes near their paddies.

History

Poblenou del Delta -the current name of Villafranco del Delta- was created between the municipalities of Amposta and Sant Carles de la Ràpita. It was yet another step in the perennial effort to reclaim land in the wetlands to expand rice farming. Specifically, this time, on 1 April 1956, Adolfo Suárez delivered three hectares and a home to each of the 97 beneficiary families after a lottery was held. 

Villafranco del Delta was not the only village where this happened. The Franco regime also created other villages of this type to promote the farm colonisation of different places within Spain. However, it was often more about propaganda than real, lasting economic effects. Regardless, the appearance of Poblenou del Delta spirits you back to several centuries ago. In fact, this newly built village, with white two-storey houses with inner courtyards, is reminiscent of the fishing villages that used to flank Spain's entire coastline. Actually, the lands that Poblenou del Delta occupied were originally used for fishing and grazing the livestock that were tied up and brought down from the mountains for the winter, primarily from Montsià and Els Ports de Beseit. 

One of the buildings constructed in 1956 was meant to house teachers and serve as a small hospital. Several years later, after a long period in which it stood empty, the Amposta City Council decided to use it as a youth hostel to meet the increasing demand from tourists interested in the Delta. Over time, the improved roads and changes in lifestyle have prompted a substantial change in the appearance of Poblenou del Delta. One example of this evolution is the Encanyissada Youth Hostel, which reopened in 2003. 

1. Two decades later, he became the leader of the Central Democratic Union and the head of the Spanish government between 1976 and 1981. 

2. A livestock community of towns within a county which collects, watches over and releases to owners livestock that have no owner, are lost or have gone astray.

Architecture

The walls of the hostel are off-white, unlike the pure white of the other uniform, low, well-kept houses. 
The building is a reminder of developmentalist Franco-era architecture, with single-family dwellings with gardens and an attempt to display a kind of rural idyll.