Villages are steadily losing their young population. Many people leave to study or work in cities and never return, while the remaining population continues to age.

At Acougo, we often welcome digital nomads and artists to our coliving space. However, in recent years, we have decided to focus on individuals and families who wish to settle permanently in rural areas, supporting them throughout the process.

Those who arrive at the coliving space intending to stay permanently encounter three main barriers:

🚧 The first is access to housing. In many villages, the available housing supply is very limited, and many homes remain empty while property owners are often reluctant to rent to people they do not know.

🚧 The second barrier is community integration. Every village has its own identity, social codes and way of life. Arriving without prior connections can easily lead to isolation. In this sense, coliving acts as a transitional space, facilitating gradual integration by providing support and an understanding of the local context, as well as tools such as our welcome guide, which connects newcomers with everyday village life.

🚧 The third barrier is employment. Starting from scratch in an environment where nobody knows you can be challenging. However, there is also an important opportunity in the form of the lack of generational replacement in many local trades and businesses. Supporting these processes creates opportunities for newcomers and helps sustain the local economy.

Over the last three years, we have developed a reception and support programme in collaboration with the “Volver al Pueblo” platform, achieving significant results:

🥳 Twelve family units have settled in the municipality, four have started their own projects, one person has taken over the management of the village’s main restaurant and hotel following its closure, and five family units have stayed in the area for over a year before moving on.

This experience demonstrates that a new form of rural mobility is emerging: people who are looking not only for housing, but also for roots, community and meaning. In this context, coliving can play a vital role in retaining populations in rural areas by acting as a bridge between newcomers and local communities and facilitating real, sustainable integration processes.

Beyond simply being a housing model, rural coliving can become a social infrastructure capable of activating the territory, strengthening community ties, and contributing to rural regeneration through a people-centred approach.

“Volver al Pueblo” is a public platform funded by COCEDER as part of initiatives addressing the demographic challenge in the Principality of Asturias.

The initiative includes a nationwide online platform featuring a map of rural resources and contact points across different territories. It provides information about housing, employment, services, opportunities and the realistic possibilities of settling in rural areas. Through the platform, individuals interested in relocating to a village can directly contact the coordinators of each area and receive personalised support based on their profile and requirements.

Acougo acts as a territorial reception partner. The collaboration agreement between the two initiatives has enabled us to develop an extremely effective support model. Many people initially arrive through Acougo, where we facilitate the first stage of the transition process by providing temporary accommodation, welcoming support, day-to-day guidance and community building.

The “Volver al Pueblo” team then conducts individual interviews to gain a better understanding of each person’s profile and guide them towards the available resources and opportunities in each area, such as employment, housing, entrepreneurship, schools, services and local networks. Our experience shows that this comprehensive support greatly facilitates long-term settlement processes.

Having temporary accommodation while searching for permanent housing, being part of a welcoming community, and having someone to support you throughout the process creates security and confidence for those choosing to move to rural areas. It enables more people to settle in rural areas sustainably and contribute to the revitalisation of villages.

Author: Noelia of Acougo de PitaSana in Boal, Spain