The Montserrat Rural Park Land Bank has increased its offer and currently has twenty plots, which represents a 35% increase since the official start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of formal applicants and interested citizens has also grown: currently, twenty-six people have shown themselves willing to lease one of the available properties, of which 80% have officially submitted their application and the the rest have only shown interest. Compared to March of last year, formal applicants for land have increased by more than 30%. Of the total applicants for land, 70% come from outside the nineteen municipalities that are in the geographical area of the rural park and, of these, the vast majority would like to make a life change of life and stay in the area

The objective of the Land Bank of the Montserrat Rural Park is to put in contact owners of abandoned or disused farms with people looking for land to cultivate, and to provide the technical and legal support that best suits the needs of both parties. To achieve this, it collaborates with local councils and entities that want to preserve the rural landscape and promote agricultural activity in the territory.

The Land Bank of the Montserrat Rural Park is one of the land banks that are part of BCN Smart Rural, the strategy of the Barcelona Provincial Council to transform the agri-food sector of the demarcation. As explained by Sònia Callau, head of the corporation's Territorial Agrarian Directorate, the commitment of the Barcelona Provincial Council is to facilitate access to land for entrepreneurs in the agro-livestock sector "is very clear and very firm". For this reason, "we have made a great effort to identify abandoned agricultural land, forested land transformed into pastures, land owned by owners about to cease their activity, etc., and, once referenced, we have created a digital platform for management and dissemination to interconnect the owners of the farms with people who want to start an agricultural activity", she adds.

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —