Asturias extends the agreement with READER against rural depopulation

The Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) publishes in issue number 175, dated September 10, 2026, the first addendum to the collaboration agreement signed on November 11, 2025, between the Administration of the Principality and the Asturian Rural Development Network (READER). The addendum, signed on August 7, 2026, extends the validity of the agreement for fourteen months and allocates 600,000 euros for the 2026 fiscal year.

The publication is ordered by Resolution of September 3, 2026, from the Ministry of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality, and Tourism, in compliance with article 11.8 of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 2/1995, of March 13, on the Legal Regime of the Administration, as amended by Law 4/2025, of November 19, which mandates the publication of agreements in the official gazette.

An instrument against depopulation

The purpose of the agreement is the coordination and development of local innovation strategies for the demographic challenge through the Territorial Innovation Center of Asturias (CIT-Asturias). The actions are directed toward the councils that, according to article 4 of Decree 83/2025, of June 23, which establishes the demographic zoning of the Principality, belong to typologies b, c, and d, characterized by presenting special demographic difficulties.

The extension was agreed upon by the Monitoring Committee of the agreement at its meeting on January 30, 2026, and the planned funding for the 2026 annual period amounts to 600,000 euros, charged to budget application 11.06.126D.789031. In 2025, the actions were funded through a direct grant of 480,000 euros.

Three lines of action for 2026

The addendum incorporates three lines of action for the 2026 fiscal year, with their corresponding budgets:

• Promotion of productive infrastructures linked to strategic sectors of the territory: adaptation of artisanal, agri-food, and processing infrastructures, innovation spaces, and generational renewal, with 230,000 euros.
• Reinforcement of proximity services and multifunctional facilities and sustainable rural mobility projects: recovery of basic services, multifunctional spaces, and mobility pilots, with 270,000 euros.
• Improvement of infrastructures linked to the management and utilization of territorial resources: agricultural-livestock, forestry, and hunting activities and economic valuation of resources, with 100,000 euros.

The actions will be developed according to the project presented by READER on March 17, 2026, and must be distinct from those funded in 2025 to avoid double funding.

Signatures and validity

The addendum is signed by the counselor Gimena Llamedo González, from the Department of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality and Tourism, and by the president of READER, Belarmino Fernández Fervienza. The agreement maintains a total validity of fourteen months, with an execution period of twelve months and an additional justification period of two, respecting the limits of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector. The effectiveness of the addendum is subject to its registration in the Registry of Agreements and its publication in the BOPA.

The extension consolidates the Principality’s commitment to local innovation as a tool against depopulation, channeling resources toward the councils with the greatest demographic difficulties and reinforcing proximity services, productive infrastructures, and sustainable use of the territory.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 175 of September 10, 2026, I. Principality of Asturias, Other Provisions, page 1/8 (official reference: Code 2026-07404).