The delegate of the Government of Spain in Madrid, Francisco Martín, attended this Saturday the reopening of the Hotel Center "Las Navas" in the Madrid town of Las Navas de Buitrago, a municipality of only 77 inhabitants that has launched a project to combat depopulation financed by the Government of Spain in collaboration with the City of Lozoyuela Navas-Sieteiglesias.
Javier Aunión, mayor of the City Council, accompanied the government delegate in the inauguration of the new center, which also means that the town has a bar again, after years without it.
Depopulation challenge
Las Navas de Buitrago is a municipality that faces the challenge of depopulation and the lack of job opportunities for young people. The percentage of young people between the ages of 18 and 35 is 17 per cent of the total population. From their City Council they know the need to increase the productive fabric of the region, so that their youth do not leave to the employment markets of the large towns
The project “Rural seeds”
In order to combat depopulation and create new employment opportunities, the project “Rural Seeds” was born, an innovative initiative that merges technology, training, employment and youth with the main objective of giving new life to the Hotel Center of Las Navas de Buitrago. With its reopening, a training program for young people is launched in areas such as hospitality and sociocultural animation. One more step in the fight against the depopulation of the area that also contributes to sustainable development in our region by promoting the growth and vitality of the locality.s (mainly to Madrid) and remain working in the area.
The Rural Seeds program is developed in two phases: on the one hand, digital training and new technologies with which participants acquire technological and digital knowledge for the administrative and operational management of the Las Navas Hotel Center. On the other hand, a training program and practices focused on hospitality and sociocultural animation, which are carried out "in situ" in the Hotel Center.
This program aims to revitalize the hotel center by offering training, internships and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people, while promoting tourism and local commerce.
It is also expected that this initiative will generate employment and settlement of the young population in the region, especially in Las Navas de Buitrago.