From dramatic mountain ranges to quaint little towns full of dusty masias, rural Catalonia is one of Europe’s most beautiful regions. Once you get a taste of the autonomous Spanish region’s countryside charms, you’ll never turn back – or at least that’s the idea behind the Catalunya Rural Hub initiative.
The scheme, which is a partnership between the Catalan government and the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation, aims to attract professionals working in the digital industries to Catalonia’s rural areas. It’s an attempt to build on a pandemic trend which saw lots of people realise that they didn’t have to live in cities and that they could live and work remotely from the countryside instead.
This is the second edition of the scheme, which will see 30 people packed off to live and work remotely for a week in the towns of Móra d’Ebre and Tremp. The remote workers will be split into groups of ten, and provided with accommodation, co-working space and an activity plan – all free of charge. The thinking is that once they get a taste of Catalonia, they won’t want to leave.
Promoting the movement of people out of cities (otherwise known as deurbanisation) can have loads of benefits for both urban and rural areas. Depopulation can relieve pressure on cities’ infrastructure and property prices, while repopulating the countryside can provide a welcome boost to local communities.
The 2022 edition of the Catalunya Rural Hub will take place over three weeks from the end of May through to the middle of June. If a free week in the gorgeous Catalonian wilderness sounds exactly like your kind of thing (and let’s face it, why wouldn’t it?), you’ve got until the end of March to apply. Find out more on the Barcelona Digital Talent website.
