Cantabria region, Spain. A 1000-year-old church is new centre for cultural life
Cantabria is a small rural Spanish region with widely dispersed municipalities. It suffers from dramatic depopulation, with many inhabitants at risk of exclusion because of the digital divide or geographic isolation. Due to this, the Liébana Centre of Studies was founded by the Regional Government to offer cultural, artistic and educational activities to over 6,000 inhabitants at risk of exclusion.
Located in a thousand-year old church, Liébana is a public-private initiative that has improved the local awareness of the value of the regional religious heritage. The process has included a fourfold strategic dimension which has taken into account a research dimension, acquisition and protection of infrastructure, an approach to business development and a marketing concept linked to tourism.
