The Catalan Association of Municipalities, known as ACM, is inviting projects aimed at slowing depopulation in rural Catalonia and plans to back them with a total of €75,000. The call matters to small councils and residents in villages losing population, as more than half of Catalonia's municipalities have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, according to ACM data reported in the source material.

ACM says 488 of Catalonia's 947 municipalities, or 51.5%, have fewer than 1,000 residents. Those towns account for just 2.56% of the population. For local authorities in those areas, the funding is intended to support ideas that can help keep services, economic activity and residents in place.

Small municipalities face a structural demographic gap

The funding call comes as Catalonia is trying to respond to a wider imbalance between urban and rural areas. According to reporting by Mireia Esteve citing the new Statute of Rural Municipalities, approved by the Catalan Parliament, 608 of Catalonia's 947 municipalities have fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.

The same source says 75% of the population lives in urban areas and 25% in rural areas, a figure attributed to the Catalan government during the approval of the law. The statute was approved on a Wednesday with the support of all parliamentary groups except Vox, and is intended to give smaller municipalities more tools and resources.

According to the government, the law will mark a "turning point" in ensuring "adequate" public services in rural municipalities.

The statute covers municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, including 381 classed as rural municipalities of special attention because they have fewer than 500 residents. It also includes the assimilated rural municipalities of Artesa de Segre and Tremp, as well as 12 municipalities added during the parliamentary process, according to the same report.

What councils can use now

For councils considering an application, the immediate practical step is to follow ACM's call for innovative projects, which the source material says will distribute €75,000 in total. The supplied materials do not include the application deadline, eligibility rules or the submission portal for this specific ACM funding round.

Municipalities that want to prepare projects can also look at the wider support now available for small councils. The Generalitat announcement on assistance for municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants sets out support for technical, legal and project-management work, which may help councils develop proposals.

  • ACM data cited in the source material says 488 of 947 municipalities have fewer than 1,000 residents.
  • The Catalan Parliament's rural municipalities statute affects 608 municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, according to Mireia Esteve's reporting.
  • The ACM initiative will provide €75,000 in total for innovative projects aimed at curbing rural depopulation.

For residents, the practical consequence is that any successful local project could affect access to services, housing, mobility or economic activity in small municipalities, although the source material does not yet specify which proposals will be selected.

In short, ACM is offering €75,000 for anti-depopulation projects, Catalonia's new rural statute now covers 608 municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, and councils seeking to act should monitor ACM's call and use existing Generalitat support channels for project preparation where relevant.

Primary sources: ub.edu, idescat.cat, govern.cat. Reported by Mireia Esteve, localdemocracy.net, segre.com, cronicaglobal.elespanol.com, en.wikipedia.org, catalannews.com, larazon.es, sciencedirect.com, journals.sagepub.com, europapress.es, Quim Bertomeu, Ramon Suñé, Públic, Natalia Parejo, El Periódico Barcelona.