23% of young people plan to move to a town: Madrid leads the interest in leaving the city

In Spain, there is currently no single “permit” to move to rural areas, but rather a mosaic of incentives and programs that act on housing, employment, entrepreneurship, digitalization, and public services. At the state level, the framework is provided by the Rural Development Law and the National Strategy against the Demographic Challenge, which are mainly deployed through subsidies and projects in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 or 10,000 inhabitants. The autonomous communities complement this scheme with specific aids to rehabilitate housing, support rural self-employed workers, or attract workers to specific towns. The result is that procedures are concentrated in calls for aid (housing, rehabilitation, entrepreneurship, training) rather than in a unique administrative procedure for “moving to the village.”

1. State framework: rural development and demographic challenge

The normative basis remains Law 45/2007 for the sustainable development of rural areas, which articulates territorial plans and programs to improve quality of life and services in villages (Law 45/2007) and its complementary organic law (LO 16/2007). Based on it, the first Sustainable Rural Development Program was approved by royal decree (RD 752/2010 and its error correction, correction), which set area plans for investments in equipment, services, and economic diversification.

Since 2019, the National Strategy against the Demographic Challenge has been specified in the Plan of 130 measures, with funding exceeding 13 billion according to MITECO (consult new strategy; 2024 announcement). Among the lines most related to settling new population are:

• The Network of Territorial Innovation Centers (RedCIT) and innovative local projects.
• The Campus Rural program, which finances university internships in demographic challenge municipalities (agreements such as the one published in the BOE: Campus Rural – BOE and the 2026 extension: 2026 note).
• The Territorial Cohesion Fund, which finances housing, entrepreneurship, and services projects in declining municipalities (23 million in 2025, according to Sectoral Conference).
• Calls for aid for territorial innovation and fight against depopulation (40–80 million, extended until 2029, according to Demócrata and MITECO itself, rural digital training).

2. Housing and rehabilitation in rural areas

In housing, the State operates through general plans, which the communities then adapt. The State Plan for Access to Housing 2022‑2025 is regulated in RD 42/2022 and coordinated with the Land and Urban Rehabilitation Law (TRLSRU 2015). For small municipalities, highlights include:

• Rental and home purchase aids with a rural bonus for young people and families settling in villages, reinforced in 2025 according to the Ministry of Housing (phone 047).
• Rehabilitation programs linked to European funds, such as PREE 5000 for municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants (RD 691/2021), integrated into the demographic challenge strategy.

At the regional and local level, there are more direct incentives for relocation:

• Catalonia: rural rehabilitation program 2026, aimed at 590 rural municipalities, with aids up to 80% of the investment for own housing, affordable rental, and public housing for settlement and repopulation programs (rural rehabilitation 2026). Additionally, the PSC rural plan foresees a rural housing pool and IRPF deductions for relocation or home purchase in rural municipalities (Demócrata – Illa).
• Galicia: joint order to rehabilitate housing intended for workers employed in municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, with 1.5 million euros and an explicit goal to cover vacancies and fix population (aid order; follow-up in O Carballiño).
• Provincial and foral councils: for example, Álava finances rehabilitation in nuclei with fewer than 1,500 inhabitants, to maintain population and improve habitability (Álava – rehabilitation).

3. Employment, entrepreneurship, and rural self-employed workers

The rural environment is supported by the CAP and the National Rural Development Program, which has executed 99.32% of its funds (PNDR). On this basis, the following have been deployed:

• LEADER and “Ticket Rural” programs, which offer grants for non-agricultural microenterprises and economic diversification in rural areas; the Valencian Community is using them to support dozens of initiatives and fix population (Ticket Rural 2025; Ticket Rural 2026; rural revitalization).
• Aids for digitalization and training for rural companies and workers: MAPA calls for digital advisory services (rural digitalization aids), SEPE digital training programs for workers in small municipalities (SEPE courses, course details) and programs like Ineco RuralTIC, which bring digital skills to more than 5,000 people in small municipalities (Ineco RuralTIC – Mitma, Transport version).
• Specific training for rural professionals, regulated by RD 347/2019 and its 2023 modification (RD 206/2023), and innovation awards for rural women (Order AAA/839/2015, modified by Order APA/510/2022).

4. Telework, digital nomads, and new forms of settlement

Beyond classic aids, instruments linked to telework and new settlers are being promoted:

• Congress has urged the Government to promote telework in rural areas and create coworking spaces in county seats, within the framework of the Strategy against the Demographic Challenge (PNL telework, with political debate recorded in allied criticism and other related notes: PSOE initiative, telework and youth, Congress evaluation, teleworker migrants, Senate rejection).
• Some communities experiment with rural coliving to attract digital nomads, such as the Fixar project of the Xunta de Galicia (coliving Laxe; coliving Ponte Caldelas), integrated into a broader territorial entrepreneurship strategy reflected in the Ultreia Network (Ultreia Network).

5. Practical procedures for those who want to relocate

There is still no state one-stop shop for “moving to the village.” The usual steps are:

• Consult state and regional housing plans (for example, the state plan in RD 42/2022, regional calls such as the Catalan rural rehabilitation or rural housing programs that Congress has asked to strengthen: PNL rural housing).
• Go to town halls, provincial councils, LEADER local action groups, or county employment and agriculture offices, which centralize applications for aids such as LEADER, Ticket Rural, or rehabilitation.
• Review calls from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the Ministry of Housing, and Agriculture, as well as sector portals (National Rural Network, Campus Rural) and specialized press like Demócrata, which synthesize news and offer examples of specific incentives.

In any case, most incentives are competitive subsidies (not automatic rights) and require following the regulatory bases published in the BOE or regional bulletins, with deadlines, registration requirements, and commitments to residence or activity in the rural municipality.

Additional normative references linked to the general framework of housing, rural development, and territorial cohesion can be consulted in the BOE: RD 1182/2020, Order TED/1358/2021, Order TED/1326/2023, Order TES/1151/2021, Order TMA/957/2021, PDR resolution, RD 317/2015, and other sectoral texts that affect land use planning and rural areas.

The Community of Madrid has broad competencies to design and execute rural development and depopulation policies, supported by its Statute of Autonomy and specific plans and programs. It can legislate and regulate key matters such as land use planning, agriculture, livestock, environment, and regional economic development, as well as exercise functions typical of a provincial council since it is a single-province community. On this legal basis, it articulates concrete financing and cooperation instruments with rural municipalities, such as territorial rebalancing plans, rural support aids, and municipal revitalization strategies. All this is coordinated with state and European rural development and territorial cohesion policy.

Basic competency framework: Statute of Autonomy

The Statute of Autonomy of the Community of Madrid, approved by Organic Law 3/1983 and reformed by organic laws 2/1991, 10/1994, and 5/1998, recognizes decisive competencies for rural areas:

• Land use planning, urbanism, and housing as exclusive competence (art. 26.1.4), key to planning rural land use and infrastructure.
• Hydraulic uses, canals, and irrigation of Community interest, and waters flowing entirely through its territory (art. 26.1.8), with direct impact on agriculture and irrigation.
• Inland fishing, aquaculture, and hunting, as well as special treatment of mountain areas (arts. 26.1.9 and 1.10), linked to rural natural environment management.
• Promotion of the Community's economic development (art. 26.1.17), which covers specific policies to boost economic activity in rural areas.
• Agriculture, livestock, and agri-food industries as exclusive competence in the regional economic scope (art. 26.3.1.4), within the framework of basic state legislation.
• Environmental protection and ecosystems, including protected natural spaces and forests, according to statutory sections related to forests, livestock routes, environmental protection, and natural spaces (window 33544‑34558 of the Statute).

In these matters, the Statute grants the Community legislative, regulatory, and executive powers, always respecting the Constitution. This allows it to approve its own laws (such as Law 7/2024 on balanced development in environment and land use planning), regulations, and action programs in the rural field.

Role as a single-province community: territorial balance and municipal support

As a single-province autonomous community, Madrid assumes the functions of the former provincial council. Both the Madrid local regime and the state law on local regime bases (cited in regional agreements) assign the Community competence to:

• Guarantee the principles of solidarity and intermunicipal balance, ensuring access to minimum municipal services throughout the territory.
• Coordinate and support the provision of municipal services, especially in small or vulnerable municipalities.
• Articulate active policies of economic and administrative cooperation with town halls, mainly through subsidies.

This function is concretized in instruments such as the 2018 Special Plan for economic support to municipalities at risk of depopulation, approved by the Agreement of November 27, 2018 (1,500,000 euros), which identifies objective demographic risk criteria and channels direct aid to small municipalities (2018 Special Plan).

Territorial rebalancing and fight against depopulation plans

Since 2018, the Community has consolidated a specific line of action against depopulation, which well reflects its material functions:

• 2022 Territorial Rebalancing and Fight against Depopulation Plan, approved by the Agreement of July 20, 2022, with 4,500,000 euros (2022 Plan).
• 2023 Territorial Rebalancing and Fight against Depopulation Plan, Agreement of May 10, 2023, also endowed with 4,500,000 euros (2023 Plan).

These plans, managed by the Ministry of Local Administration and Digitalization, define two major intervention lines:

• Territorial rebalancing: direct aid to municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants according to income, unemployment, migration balance, and secondary housing percentage indicators, to improve basic services and reduce vulnerabilities.
• Fight against depopulation: line focused on municipalities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants, with special attention to densities below 12.5 inhabitants/km² and population declines of at least 1% in ten years, following EU demographic risk criteria.

In both cases, the Community exercises planning, financing, management, and evaluation functions of subsidies, with a direct award procedure aimed at all municipalities meeting the objective criteria.

Rural development, economic activity, and rural environment

Beyond demographic plans, the Community uses its economic and industrial competencies to promote rural development. The Agreement of October 14, 2020 regulates aids for industrial promotion in rural areas, within the framework of the “Strategy for Revitalization of Rural Municipalities of the Community of Madrid,” incentivizing the establishment, modernization, and expansion of industrial companies in municipalities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants (rural industry aids).

These actions are supported by statutory competencies of planning and regulation of regional economic activity and industry (arts. 26.3.1.1 and 3.1.3 of the Statute) and fit into regional sectoral planning (industrial, energy, and environmental plans). The repeal of the Sustainable Rural Housing Law through Law 1/2016 also shows the Community's capacity to reorient its normative framework on residential uses in rural land.

Coordination with state and European policy

Madrid's rural development and depopulation policies are inserted in a broader state and European framework. At the state level, there are norms such as Royal Decree 1080/2014, which regulates coordination of managing authorities of rural development programs 2014‑2020, or Royal Decree 902/2021 on new territorial projects for rebalancing and equity, among others. Within this framework, the Community of Madrid participates in the management and co-financing of rural development programs and in the application of European funds, adapting them to its territorial and demographic priorities.

Other norms cited in the sources

The consulted sources mention numerous state and regional norms that, although they do not directly define Madrid's rural competencies, form part of the general legal context: Royal Decree 1/2024, Order TED/1326/2023, Hispano-Mozambican Commission Act, Royal Decree 425/2021, agreement with IOM, industrial area improvement, Madrid 2025 Budgets, Madrid 2022 Budgets, Ministry of Environment structure, as well as state sectoral norms on programs and funds (for example, STC 25/2024, Order TES/897/2021, ONCE Coupon resolution, Order DSA/619/2023, Order TES/1121/2021, Royal Decree 525/2014, Royal Decree 35/2014, Royal Decree 1179/2018 along with its modification by Royal Decree 916/2025 and repeal by Royal Decree 533/2017, as well as national rural development norms Royal Decree 21/2018, Royal Decree 702/2016, Resolution of December 9, 2015, in addition to Madrid budgetary and fiscal norms such as Law 9/2017, Law 9/2001 on Land, Law 9/2010, and other provisions such as Order PCM/196/2022, Order PCM/544/2021, Order PRA/1082/2017, and Order PRE/1426/2014. No further information is available in the consulted sources about their specific impact on Madrid's rural development.

The regulation of connectivity and access to telecommunications services in rural areas in Spain combines a major framework law (the General Telecommunications Law) with regulations on universal service and several specific aid programs for areas without coverage (white and grey zones). In the last decade, these policies have been strengthened relying on European funds and the Recovery Plan, aiming to guarantee at least 100 Mbps to 100% of the population. The key norms focus on three axes: right of access (universal service), deployment of ultra-fast fixed networks, and extension of 4G/5G mobile coverage in rural and depopulated areas. Below is a summary of the main state laws and programs with direct impact on rural areas.

General framework: General Telecommunications Law

The reference norm is Law 11/2022, of June 28, General Telecommunications Law, which sets the basic sector framework and largely repeals Law 9/2014. It is published in the BOE with reference Law 11/2022.

Regarding rural areas, this law:

• Strengthens the role of very high capacity networks (fiber and 5G) as a tool for territorial cohesion and fighting depopulation, emphasizing that deployment in rural areas is essential for entrepreneurship and employment.
• Is linked to the Recovery Plan and the Spain Digital 2025 strategy, setting as a goal the universalization of internet access of at least 100 Mbps regardless of geographic location (mentioned in the thirtieth additional provision to which other norms refer).
• Provides legal coverage for planning selective public aids for areas where the market does not deploy networks due to lack of profitability (low-density rural areas).

Universal service and basic access right

The concept of universal service is regulated through the Regulation on conditions for the provision of electronic communications services, universal service, and user protection, approved by Royal Decree 424/2005, modified, among others, by Royal Decree 1517/2018, of December 28, published in the BOE with reference Royal Decree 1517/2018.

This regulation and its 2018 modification highlight that:

• Universal service guarantees access to the public electronic communications network and the Internet with independence of geographic location, which is the legal basis for minimum access also in rural areas.
• Vulnerable groups (e.g., visually impaired persons) are protected through specific conditions, ensuring that market liberalization does not leave zones or groups with less commercial appeal without service.

Fixed broadband programs in white and grey zones

The deployment of very high-speed fixed networks in rural areas is mainly articulated through the Next Generation Broadband Extension Program (PEBA-NGA) and its successors, all aimed at white and grey NGA zones (without coverage, or with a single operator and insufficient capacity).

• Order ETD/348/2020, of April 13, which establishes the regulatory bases of the Next Generation Broadband Extension Program, BOE Order ETD/348/2020:
  • Finances networks capable of offering at least 300 Mbps, scalable to 1 Gbps.
  • Specifically aimed at white NGA zones (without next-generation networks nor 3-year forecasts) and grey zones with coverage below 100 Mbps.
  • Emphasizes that these aids contribute to social and territorial cohesion and address the demographic challenge in depopulated areas.
• Its modifications and prior adjustments in eligible zones and aid design are recorded in:
  • Order ETD/704/2021, BOE Order ETD/704/2021.
  • Order IET/275/2015, BOE Order IET/275/2015.
  • Order ETU/275/2017, BOE Order ETU/275/2017.

A subsequent leap is represented by the UNICO – Rural Demand Program:

• Order ETD/1107/2022, of November 14, BOE Order ETD/1107/2022, and its modification by Order TDF/1558/2025, BOE Order TDF/1558/2025:
  • Regulate aids so that households and businesses in remote, dispersed, and very low-density rural areas can contract broadband service of at least 100 Mbps at an affordable price.
  • Cover both the monthly service and activation, equipment, and installation costs, expressly referring to reducing the rural digital divide.

4G/5G mobile coverage programs in rural areas

For the mobile component, state policy is channeled through the UNICO 5G programs, which seek to bring 5G (and at least quality 4G) to areas without sufficient coverage:

• Order ETD/507/2022, of June 2, Program “UNICO-5G Networks” (passive infrastructure), BOE Order ETD/507/2022:
  • Subsidizes the passive infrastructure necessary for mobile services in areas where there is no 4G coverage with at least 10 Mbps downstream.
  • Explicitly includes the arrival of 5G to the “Empty Spain,” linking it to the disappearance of the digital divide between urban and rural areas.
• Order ETD/685/2023, of June 21, and its modification by Order ETD/1084/2023, BOE Order ETD/685/2023 and Order ETD/1084/2023:
  • Regulate the “UNICO 5G Active Networks” program, to provide active equipment in areas where there is no 4G coverage with at least 50 Mbps.
  • Its objective is to guarantee advanced broadband mobile services in rural areas not covered by the market, reinforcing territorial cohesion.

State strategies and plans with normative effect

Several of these orders are inserted in strategies with practical effects on rural deployment, although they do not always have the rank of law:

• Spain Digital Agenda 2025 and the Plan for Connectivity and Digital Infrastructures, cited in Order ETD/348/2020 and Order ETD/507/2022, set the goal that 100% of the population has at least 100 Mbps by 2025.
• The Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan and its component 15 (“Digital connectivity, cybersecurity, and 5G”), mentioned in Order ETD/1107/2022 and Order ETD/507/2022, provide financial support and condition milestones (e.g., specific projects in remote rural areas).

Altogether, these norms configure a scheme in which the State guarantees a minimum universal service and, on top of it, deploys a battery of aids aimed at the least profitable rural zones for operators, with the declared objective of closing the rural digital divide and combating depopulation.