But this week we wanted to go a step further and learn about the impact other projects are having in rural areas. To do this, we invited the following to participate in a panel entitled "How to Generate a Positive Impact in Rural Areas? "

• Carmen Valiña , Founder of Orgullosamente Rurales : 'It's a project of scarves with roots, and with the sale of each scarf, we directly support projects that take place in rural areas.'

• Pablo Franco , founder of Emprender en el Pueblo : 'It's a project that helps people who want to start a business in a rural area, or a small town in Spain'

• Sofía Lázaro , co-founder of Terraconta Comunicación : 'It's a marketing and communication agency located in rural areas, to make them more visible'

During the meeting, we discussed their projects, how these projects help their rural territories, what challenges lie ahead, and what proposals are having a direct impact on them. 

Undoubtedly, an atmosphere of great empathy and complicity was created through the questions we posed to the three of them, which enriched the panel and gave us some tips .

Identifying the challenges of 'Empty Spain'

Throughout the panel we were able to gather many interesting things, as well as learn about the opinions and experiences of Carmen, Pablo, and Sofía within the rural environment. 

The three of them told us about the locations of their projects. Pablo and Sofía (and Diego) are based in small towns in the province of Huesca (Nueno and Arguis, respectively). Carmen, on the other hand, is starting her business from Baio, a small town located on the Costa da Morte, in A Coruña. 

One of the main questions was : How do you think rural Spain has evolved in the last 2 years?

I think it has put rural areas on the map, but at the same time it has highlighted one of their biggest problems: there is no possibility of buying homes in these areas. 

This response was common for Pablo and Sofía; for her part, Carmen argued that she did not agree with the use of the term "Empty Spain," stressing that these environments have their own reality, which must be understood and which must take into account the projects that are being developed within them. 

Among the challenges , some have been identified that we have already mentioned in other posts, such as internet connectivity , access to housing , or the lack of services within them .

To the panel's key , "What positive impacts are your projects generating in the rural environment?" , to which we added, "Do you think they may have generated any negative impacts?" , we concluded the following:

Almost all agree that the direct impact they are generating in their environments is through the generation of networks, the hiring of local suppliers (zero kilometer), collaborating with institutions, defending the culture of their territories or supporting local institutions. 

Within the negative impact, in addition to the carbon footprint that is always generated, we are left with the following:

We come to rural areas with an 'urban' lifestyle and think we can contribute a lot. This might be very welcome to many, but it can generate resistance in many others. That's why it's so important to get to know your surroundings and your neighbors well (especially in small towns)

Within the video at the beginning of this post, you'll find the answers to other questions we posed, such as: Are your projects generating networks with local stakeholders? Are you perceiving, or seeing, actions from institutions that help you in this regard? And from any company (local, regional, national) or are you part of any rural network (local, regional, national)?

We'll soon be announcing new panels to continue sharing experiences and stories from the rural environment. If you don't want to miss any, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter .