Over San Xoán de Río
Rural depopulation is one of the defining challenges of our time. San Xoán de Río has chosen not to wait for change, but to actively reimagine what a small Galician municipality can become.
The labour market strategy here is linked to rural belonging. Cooperatives rooted in the local economy have been reoriented toward digital innovation, opening new pathways. Reskilling programmes target those left behind by rural labour markets, traditionally women over 45 and newcomers, treating their presence not as a problem to manage, but as potential waiting to be activated.
A Silver Economy Initiative brings similar thinking to care work, professionalising roles that women have long performed informally, and recognising their economic value for the first time. It is a quiet act of institutional acknowledgement with real consequences for income, security and dignity.
Perhaps most strikingly, San Xoán de Río is actively positioning itself as a safe, high-tech and explicitly LGBTIQ+-friendly rural sanctuary - an open invitation to diverse remote workers seeking a different kind of life.