How a Tiny Spanish Village Is Fighting 'Empty Spain' by Welcoming Digital Nomads
Rural Village in Spain Is Welcoming Digital Nomads with Open Arms
In Benarraba, a 350-person village in Andalusia, the nonprofit Rooral hosts remote workers for up to two months, blending co-working and co-living to inject life and money into a region threatened by depopulation. The program encourages visitors to join community activities, from Spanish lessons to potluck dinners, and has brought an average of $1,765 per guest into the local economy each month. As similar initiatives emerge across Spain, Rooral aims to create a replicable model to bridge the rural-urban divide.
“One program like ours can’t save all villages, and the only way for an initiative like this to work is to advance at the speed of trust.”
- NoboruWataya
As I understand it, these attempts to use digital nomad money to revive impoverished areas tend to become controversial when the impoverished locals realise what it means to compete with (from their perspective) extremely wealthy blow-ins. Maybe in particular circumstances it can work, like if the locals actually get most or all of the money spent by the newcomers (rather than going into the pockets of absentee landlords or large corporations).
The article opens by noting fears about Spain's "vibrant culture" dying out. Needless to say, this won't help with that problem and may well accelerate it, unless Spanish culture is coding workshops and padel (per the article).
- xyzelement
Whether digital nomads contribute economically to local villages is a fine question.
But - what is happening to Spain? It has among the lowest fertility in Europe and has only avoided collapse in population through migration form LATAM and North Africa. Why is spain suffering from this?
What's happening in the villages is a symptom of something larger.
- axiologist
- amarant
I think if the right to work from home was encoded in law for any job which was practically possible to do remotely, you'd have a better shot at keeping rural villages alive without relying on foreigners. That would keep the local culture living instead of replacing it.
But this is better than nothing I suppose, at least it prevents ghost towns
- ks2048
The town: Benarrabá, Málaga province, Andalusia.
- intothemild
It's always interesting watching counties try to lift the birthrate, and doing things that don't actually help improve the conditions that lead to the issue in the first place.
Look here's an idea. If you're under a certain age, and you want to own a home and move to a small village etc.. you are granted 100% protection from the government from your employer and you can work 100% remote. Enshrined into law. Nothing the employer can do about it.
Make it a whole nationalism thing to get the right wing on board.
I know a whole bunch of people who would move to a country town in a heartbeat if they could, heck lots of people did it during the pandemic, the minute that remote work became a possibility.
It's great they're chasing these digital nomads, but I'm not sure that's the solution that's going to work long or even medium term.
- lifestyleguru
Like... whom? Zuck or Larry? They're 10 years late to the party, digital nomads are no more. They can count on German and British pensioners, although personally I'd prefer to be poor than to cater to this demographics.
- wolvesechoes
With digital nomads is like with standard, recreational tourism. It is always promised by local decision-makers it will bring multiple benefits to locals, including economic boost, but it always a pact with a Devil where few reap rewards while rest are left impoverished, delegated to toilet cleaning and food serving, and local customs and culture are eroded.