The Generalitat de Catalunya will open a line of aid in 2026 for 2.1 million euros to promote multiservice establishments in municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, with a focus on micro-villages that have lost their food stores, restaurants, or both services. The call will allow financing for both new openings and the maintenance of existing establishments.
The paradox appears on the Catalan rural map. Catalonia has 476 municipalities with fewer than a thousand inhabitants, but 175 have no food store and 26 lack restaurants, so in Ponent and the Pyrenees, 40% of micro-villages still have no food store despite these being basic services for retaining population.
The 2.1 million aid aims to support 50 establishments in small villages
The call published by the Generalitat de Catalunya expands the scope of this aid, which will no longer be limited to micro-villages and will also reach municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. The town councils will have to promote the establishments and guarantee that they concentrate at least two services of general interest.
In practice, these spaces will have to include at least food or restaurant services, and may include other uses such as package drop-off points or newspaper sales. Xavier Amor, Secretary of Local Governments, estimates that the budget will allow for the creation or maintenance of 50 multiservice establishments in small municipalities.
Currently, 30 such establishments are operating in Catalonia. Of this total, three are in the plains and two in the Pyrenees, a limited presence in two of the areas where the lack of daily services is most noticeable.
Ponent and the Pyrenees concentrate a large part of the lack of food stores
The data on the absence of food stores shows the main gap. Of the 175 Catalan municipalities without a food store, 34 are in Ponent and 30 in the Pyrenees, placing both areas in a scenario where four out of ten micro-villages lack this service.
The restaurant network also has deficiencies, although in smaller numbers. There are 26 municipalities without this service, of which 20 are located in the plains and six in the Pyrenees.
This deficit of commercial and restaurant activity intersects with another demographic figure. 82.4% of Catalan micro-villages present a high or very high risk of aging, and the Generalitat links the measure to the need to curb rural depopulation.
Xavier Amor has announced that the aid line will be continuous and that the allocation planned for the 2026 call amounts to 2.1 million euros.