Until about two years ago, teleworking, the work model consisting of carrying out tasks from home thanks to information technologies, was an unusual technique in Spain and quite unthinkable for people living in Els Ports. In order to be able to carry out tasks efficiently, a good internet connection is necessary. And, in the last few years, fibre optics have gradually been installed in most of the villages in the Els Ports region.

But, impediments aside, people who have managed to telework in Els Ports can feel very fortunate. To be able to live surrounded by nature, to take a break and stick your head out of the window and see landscapes such as the Carrasqueta La Guaita, the Roca del Migdia or the Rambla Celumbres, can be considered a small-big pleasure of everyday life.

Going out to do the shopping and finding high quality and local food, the possibility of growing your own food, breathing high quality air, walking at night under the moonlight and seeing the stars, living all the seasons in Els Ports and observing the infinite number of landscapes, greeting your neighbours, meeting up for coffee in the bar, forgetting about commuting to work, a wide range of cultural and sporting activities to do in the area, being able to spend more time with your pets and other people living with you, having more time to do your housework  and many more are the advantages for people who do this type of work.

But what are the advantages of teleworking for villages? In general, it combats depopulation and this… allows young people to boost their careers without having to go to the city in search of opportunities, allows families to give their children a more personalised education with great values in a rural school, leads to more people living in the villages and this is of vital importance to maintain the supply of services, leads to an increase in customers in the municipal shops and bars and, above all, one more open house is always a joy!

Designing the plans for a house while watching it snow, editing photographs while the autumn leaves are falling and you go out in the afternoon to look for chanterelles, having the window open where the only noise is the tick tick tick tick tick, click of the keyboard and the mouse. These are realities that the pandemic has brought and that have come to stay. And staying in Els Ports is what all the professionals who have found in these mountains a space to open their minds and to be able to project their view to infinity do. From a window, just look up from the screen and the landscape of Els Ports opens up. And when you go out of the door you only have to walk or cycle to go from work to nature.

The villages in the region have also been attentive to these movements. Private and public co-workings are springing up. This is the case of Querol Assessors in Morella, which is promoting a meeting place for professionals. In Vilafranca, at the headquarters of the Mancomunitat Els Ports, a space has also been set up for those who need a temporary office.

Joy, hope, life… This is what the villages of Els Ports need and a good way to achieve it is by taking advantage of the great opportunity we have right now with teleworking. Teleworking gives life to our region and this gives life to all its residents!