Holapueblo is the platform promoted by Redeia, AlmaNatura, and IKEA to counter population decline. It now has two new towns, Alpuente (Valencia) and Beteta (Cuenca), to recover and reinvigorate community spaces that contribute to improving their social and environmental facilities, creating new opportunities, and enlivening the local residents.

Alpuente and Beteta have been awarded the Reactivate Project (Proyecto Reactivadores). This project is an initiative aimed at encouraging the towns taking part in Holapueblo to design social and environmental facilities. The aim is to restore municipal resources that have become obsolete due to their failure to keep up with the needs of the community or to increase their value to the inhabitants of rural areas. 

The announcement of the Reactivate Project drew a response for the IV edition of Holapueblo from 28 of the 100 councils. The organisation pre-selected the following four towns based on the necessity, clarity, viability, and significant positive social and environmental impact of the proposals put forward: Alpuente, Beteta, Boceguillas (Segovia), and Castellnovo (Castellón).

One of the winners was chosen by a popular vote, while the other was selected from the remaining three by a panel consisting of experts from Redeia, AlmaNatura, and Ikea. Alpuente was the preferred option for 39% of the 10,347 votes cast on the project website. On the other hand, Beteta was chosen by the professional jury.

Alpuente’s project involves adapting a call-centre located in the village of Corcolilla. This village’s future space for the rural economy will be a facility for co-working and a community hub for socialising, leisure, study, remote working, social adaptation, and integration, helping to improve the lives of people in 12 villages nearby. For its part, Beteta won with Innova Rural, a social centre to attract both the local community and new residents and to generate new employment opportunities through innovation.

Both projects stand out as places for generating social and professional contacts with a clear commitment to sustainability. They both aim to stimulate business and social life in their towns and encourage population growth.

AlmaNatura, along with IKEA, will prepare an interior design project worth 15,000 euros for the municipal facilities of the winning bids. AlmaNatura, which has 25 years of experience stimulating rural economies, will also offer advisory sessions for activating and starting up the businesses that will be housed in the revived spaces. 

In the previous edition, Proyecto Reactivadores reactivated two municipal spaces in Almedina (Ciudad Real) and Jaraba (Zaragoza). This initiative has proved to be an opportunity for collaboration between the public authorities, local associations, and the public. The revived spaces are symbols of shared leadership and management between councils and representatives of the local communities. 

This is one way that Holapueblo continues its work to create more 'living villages' in which people and organisations can work together for a positive transformation of their environment. Furthermore,  it contributes to SDG #17 and creates partnerships with the goal of making our communities more and more sustainable (SDG #11) and less disadvantaged (UN Habitat).

Holapueblo, the promoter of this initiative, is a project created by AlmaNatura and supported by Redeia and IKEA. Its purpose is to encourage the repopulation of rural areas by stimulating two essential factors: people (entrepreneurs and jobseekers) interested in moving to rural areas and the councils of small towns that are committed to attracting and settling new residents. To date, 133 people in 51 families have found a new home in 34 towns, thanks to Holapueblo. In fact, they have contributed to the creation of 30 new businesses.