In south-eastern Galicia, one small municipality is trying to make rural life feel possible again. Home to just 510 people, it is focusing on the things that can matter most to someone considering a move: a place to live, clearer information about local services, decent connectivity and a community that is working to stay active.
In Ourense province, San Xoán de Río had been losing between 30 and 40 residents a year when Xosé Miguel Pérez Blecua became mayor in 2019. More than 3,000 people lived there in the 1980s, according to the mayor. Its recent work has since gained European recognition and brought fresh attention to a municipality treating homes, work and community life as connected parts of the same challenge.
Empty homes in Ourense are the starting point
For anyone drawn to the idea of joining a rural repopulation project in Spain, housing is usually the first practical hurdle. In San Xoán de Río, it has been the starting point too.
The municipality is part of RE-HABITA RURAL LAB, a scheme shared by nine municipalities in Ourense and backed by €260,941 from Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
Technical teams visit local parishes to photograph and georeference empty homes, building a clearer picture of the properties that stand unused. The resulting map supports a social rental pool, aimed primarily at women, alongside a free advisory service for homeowners.
By June 2026, the scheme had received more than 170 requests for advice across the nine municipalities. Around 60% concerned renovation grants and finance.
Project promoters estimate that over 40% of homes in Ourense province are vacant, which they describe as the highest proportion in Spain. A closed house is not necessarily ready for a new resident, but mapping buildings, ownership and renovation needs is a practical step towards making rural housing less of a guessing game.
Digital planning and Spain’s first Startup Village
San Xoán de Río has also gathered information on its infrastructure, network coverage, available land and local services. The aim, according to the mayor, is to make it easier for people considering a move or investment to understand what is possible without getting caught up in months of paper-based administration.
That groundwork helped San Xoán de Río and neighbouring A Pobra de Trives gain European Commission certification as a Startup Village. San Xoán de Río was the first municipality in Spain to receive the recognition.
For a place of this size, the certification brought access to international networks, funding and contacts that would otherwise be difficult to reach, according to the mayor.
The planned Rural Valley campus and its €350 monthly fee
A larger project, Rural Valley, is planned for Os Biocos. The proposal centres on restoring a former hostel and building 50 cabins.
Thirty cabins are intended for the founders of 30 startups spending 12 months in the area. Ten would be reserved for entrepreneurs and investors, with another 10 for staff.
The stated price is €350 per month per participant, including accommodation, food, one-gigabit fibre internet, mentoring and prototype development. The first group is scheduled for March 2027, with a target of 120 entrepreneurs a year.
Grants are planned for people who cannot cover the monthly cost. Participants would also complete volunteer hours with local residents, giving the campus a direct link to the people already living there.
Traditional homes and early signs of renovation
San Xoán de Río has seen almost no new homes built during the past 40 years, according to the mayor. Much of its housing consists of traditional properties, and many have been shut for decades.
There are signs of movement. The mayor said building permits had increased as owners restored inherited homes for longer stays or permanent moves. For anyone considering a move, that detail matters: rural renewal often begins with an old family house being brought back into use, long before official population figures reflect the change.
Inclusion and community life in rural Galicia
Housing and work are only part of the picture. On 21 April 2026, San Xoán de Río won bronze in the fifth edition of the European Commission’s European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award, in the category for local authorities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants.
The municipality directs 20% of its annual budget to inclusion policies. Brussels recognised three strands of work:
- Mulleres de Río, which gives older women decision-making capacity in local governance;
- municipal declarations on LGBTIQ+ rights, used as a basis for local action;
- Rural SocialTech, focused on digital skills and the social economy.
A realistic route into rural life in Spain
San Xoán de Río remains a municipality of around 500 people with an ageing population. The planned startup campus is still a project rather than a finished reality.
Still, the work underway gives a sense of how a small rural municipality can begin opening doors: by finding out which homes are empty, helping owners navigate renovation, setting out what infrastructure is available and building partnerships beyond its borders.
For someone abroad looking towards rural Spain, it is a grounded example of a place trying to turn long-term decline into the foundations for a different future.
Stay in the know about living in Spain as a foreigner—get our weekly newsletter for the latest travel, legal, and lifestyle news.
