Spanish Government to Present ‘Rural Erasmus’ in the Coming Weeks

SPANISH GOVERNMENT to present ‘Rural Erasmus’ in the coming weeks. The fourth vice president of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, has assured that the Government wants to present the ‘Rural Erasmus’ program “before summer.” “We are going to do everything in our power to present the complete program before summer,” she claimed this Sunday, May 30, during a PSOE event held in Huesca on the demographic challenge of rural Spain.

As reported by 20 Minutos, according to Ribera, the idea is that for “September or October” the calls to activate the selection process will begin to be issued, with the aim that “at the end of the coming year” the ‘Rural Erasmus’ will be “a reality” for about 200 students.

During the speech, Ribera gave details about the work that the Government is carrying out on this measure. She has indicated that to launch the program there are three elements to connect: the academic part with the universities, for which the Government is working with the part of professional experience of practices; and the accommodation part. The head of the Department of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge has assured that the option that is being considered is that the students will live with their neighbours in their homes, in the towns where they will develop their task.

Ribera reflected on the demographic challenge Spain is facing. In her opinion, rural depopulation is part of a “megatrend of urbanization in large urban agglomerations, generating distortions in the territory.” “The problem is that in Spain, this megatrend has existed for a long time and has no parallel with the rest of central Europe”.