The Álava town of Lagrán barely has a hundred residents, but on weekends it is full of life. Its geographical location, right on the Wine and Fish Route (Gr.38), and its proximity to the Sierra Cantabria attract hundreds of visitors who bring life to the town. This small municipality, however, could lose this dynamism if it runs out of catering establishments, a threat that has led the town council to make a move: it will offer housing for 166 euros per month to those who manage the municipal bar.
This small municipality has two restaurants: the bar El Frontón and La Traviesa. The first of them will close its doors in July, since its current managers will move to another community, while the second, under municipal concession, has been closed since October. Summer, the period with the greatest influx of visitors, could arrive with the two establishments closed, a situation that the municipal council wants to avoid by all means.
“Without bars there is no life in the town. If the number of people who come on weekends finds the two bars closed, they will pass by”, explains Jose Mari Martínez, mayor of the municipality.
Faced with this situation, the City Council has opted to put out to tender the management of the La Traviesa bar with an offer that is intended to be attractive. On the one hand, whoever wishes to manage the establishment must pay an annual fee of 2,000 euros, that is, 166 euros per month. From there, all the benefits will go to the managers of the establishment and, at the same time, the council will pay half the cost of electricity.
In addition, the City Council will offer whoever decides to manage this establishment the possibility of living in the old guard's house for 166 euros per month, 2,000 euros per year.
Jose Mari Martínez points out that the appearance of the offer in local media has aroused unusual interest and he is optimistic regarding the concession of the management of La Traviesa for this summer.
“We believe that it is an attractive enough offer to attract entrepreneurs, who will also become residents of the town. The business requires work and sacrifice, but it is profitable ”, he indicates.
In fact, the mayor is confident that the other establishment in the town can even be rented, circumventing a problem that affects many other towns in territories emptied with the decline of rural environments. This is the case of Montaña Alavesa, where Lagrán falls, a region located on the border with Navarra, Castilla y León and La Rioja, which barely has 3,000 inhabitants divided into fifty towns.
Some are on the verge of complete depopulation, a situation that the residents of Lagrán resist.
