Priorat, a region in which 160 wineries of its two denominations of origin operate and which boasts of producing some of the most valued wines in the world, has not managed to reverse the process of stagnation and population loss. The 23 municipalities have a total of 9,235 inhabitants, 656 less than ten years ago, according to Idescat data. One of the causes of the decline is the flagrant housing deficit, a problem that affects many towns in rural Catalonia. Now initiatives are beginning to emerge in search of solutions, such as the one undertaken by the Falset Marçà, Agrícola de Cabacés and Vinícola del Priorat cooperatives, which want to use disused properties they own as primary residences.
The three cooperatives signed a collaboration agreement last summer that, in addition to establishing measures to improve the production and marketing of wine, oil and nuts, plans to manage a small housing stock to attract young people and facilitate generational change in the field tasks. “If we want people from outside to come and we don’t have houses, we already abort that possible arrival from the start, which is why we have started working on a project focused on taking advantage of the buildings of the three cooperatives that are not used. We will start with a pilot plan in La Vilella Baixa, where the old Cooperativa de Consum could house four homes,” details Damià Fàbrega, manager of Vinícola del Priorat. The possible uses of an industrial space in Falset are also being analyzed and, in a next phase, a call will be made to the more than a thousand partners, including producers and collaborators, so that those who have closed apartments consider the possibility of giving them a way out. . Precisely, the Regional Council is carrying out “an analysis of the housing stock of the 23 localities to determine what percentage are empty and what their state of conservation is,” indicates its president and mayor of Ulldemolins, Sergi Méndez. “Yes, we live the paradox of having economic activity and internationally recognized wines, but population indicators continue to decline. In Ulldemolins, the deficit of primary residences has a lot to do with the loss of inhabitants, just as in Els Guiamets, where the school, the second smallest in Catalonia, was expanded, but no more families arrive due to the lack of housing,” he adds. Mendez.
The architect and urban planner Itziar González has x-rayed the region in recent years with the aim of proposing actions against depopulation. The result of her work will be presented on December 16 at the Escaladei charterhouse. “The great challenge is to mobilize the empty buildings, first the public park, and then raise awareness among the owners of closed properties, awareness-raising work must be done. The danger is turning Priorat into a strictly economic area and not a living space,” says González.
It should be remembered that Cornudella, Falset, La Morera de Montsant, La Vilella Baixa, Margalef and Poboleda are part of the list of municipalities that will require prior planning permission to operate tourist apartments, according to the new regulations that have just been announced by the Generalitat and that Parliament must ratify. This type of use has left quite a few homes on the first home market.
“We cooperatives champion missions that perhaps would not concern us, but we seek to promote our social aspect. If we manage to enable housing resources and if we also facilitate access to land by putting farmers close to retirement in contact with young people from outside, we contribute to settling the population,” adds Damià Fàbrega. He also emphasizes that a next step will be to seek the complicity of the administrations to build apartments in the La Vilella Baixa building.
