Talent and communitySince 2021CETER
Rural Tech Centre: try living in a village, and be part of it from day one
A space where remote workers, or company teams, spend one, two or three months working from a village. With one difference: the rural ambassadors also live there, locals who act as a bridge so newcomers really become part of village life.
00 · The idea
A house is not enough: the hard part is becoming part of the village
When we finished the Rural Bike Route one thing was clear: many people working in tech would try living in a village, but do not know how. Housing is one barrier, but there is another just as important: social integration. Arriving in a village where you know nobody and, within two months, feeling part of it.
01 · A stay at the centre
From newcomer to local, in eight weeks
This is how we picture the stay of someone who comes to work remotely for two months. The rural ambassadors are the link: they introduce the village to them and them to the village. Move through the weeks and watch their network grow.
02 · Inside the centre
A shared building and five homes
The 2021 pre-project described a centre with a shared building (coworking, dining room, kitchen, leisure room and ten en-suite rooms) and five homes for the ambassadors, all integrated into the village, with a garden and minimal environmental impact. Tap each space.
Indicative sketch from the pre-project. Not a final design.
- 10 visitors
- 5 residents
- 10 from the district
03 · The story
A very ambitious goal, step by step
Ever since the bike ride ended, the CETER has been the association’s big goal. It has changed location and size, but not its idea.
04 · Looking for a site · 2021
Village by village, building by building
Using data from the ride, we assessed villages in the Huesca Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees: services, connectivity, roads, climate and surroundings. Then we visited a dozen of them to propose to their mayors that we set up a foundation together: if the village had an unused building, we would find public and private funding and run the centre. We built a small app to organise what we were offered.
Recreation of the 2021 app with its public information. Tap a dot on the map.
05 · The Berdún silo · 2021–2022
An old grain silo, turned into a tech centre
Of all the buildings, we chose the old grain silo in Berdún, in the Canal de Berdún: a huge historic building, with land around it and next to the Camino de Santiago. Huesca Provincial Council agreed to fund a preliminary design, which we commissioned from the architecture firm A54 IN-SITU.
06 · The Espierre mountain hut · since 2023
A ruined mountain hut at 1,250 metres, restored with our own hands
In 2023 a small mountain hut came up for sale in Espierre, a tiny village in the municipality of Biescas, in the Alto Gállego. We went the next day. Since then, many weekends, members and volunteers go up to work on it while the association saves to restore it.
07 · And now
Espierre moves forward, and we are also looking in Ansó
Today the association is based in Ansó, in the valley of the same name. Since mid-2025 we have also been looking for a space there for the centre, while still making progress on the Espierre hut. Two paths to the same goal.
08 · What about you?
I would use the CETER and try the experience
If you can picture yourself working remotely for a few months from a village in the Pyrenees, tell us what your stay would be like. It helps us design the centre, and we will let you know when the first stays open.
🏆 Startup Village award winners