Society: FAFCE and Fundación Madrina, “family” is “missing ingredient in rural revitalisation”

“Family: The Missing Ingredient in Rural Revitalisation” is the title of a document published by the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE) and Fundación Madrina, the Spanish organization that supports mothers and children in need, to meet the “Long-Term Vision on Rural Areas in the EU”, published by the European Commission on 30 June 2021. The economic and social crisis caused by the pandemic “has come to stay”, explains Conrado Giménez, the founder and president of Fundación Madrina, and has already pushed 26% of families into the risk of poverty and social vulnerability. For a number of reasons listed in the document, the “way out” is the countryside, with regard to both housing and working poverty, and educational and social poverty, with the benefit of rebuilding and reviving rural communities, which are facing many challenges that are listed in the document. This is why the European Commission’s strategy should be developed with “a cross-cutting look at the family and its needs”. Fundación Madrina has developed the “Pueblos Madrina” programme to provide social support to vulnerable households. More than 300 families in difficult situations have already been rehoused in rural areas, and another 700 families are waiting: it is a “good practice”, a model that could be replicated across Europe.
Valentina Bombelli