The Spanish village of Pescueza cares for its senior citizens as a community, and gives them plenty of personal freedom. It's a win for the seniors, their families and the entire community.
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00:00Pascuesa is a special village, with barrier-free sidewalks and a lot of other barrier-free design.
00:09The village in the south-west of Spain even has a home for seniors.
00:15Herminia lives in the senior centre.
00:17While older people from other villages are often forced to move to live with their children or in homes for seniors in the city, she's able to stay.
00:26I'm staying in my village. I've still got lots to do here.
00:33The 85-year-old still tends to her olive trees every day.
00:44I live in the centre, but I go out whenever I want. In the morning, they make me breakfast, and then I come here.
00:52Ah, I wanted to prune this branch too.
00:57The region is sparsely populated. Pascuesa has just 150 residents.
01:04And yet the town has kept itself alive, thanks in part to the senior centre.
01:13Time for exercise.
01:17Eight seniors, like Herminia, live at the facility.
01:20Six more come here for care in the daytime.
01:24Constantina, at 97, the village's oldest resident, also has a room here.
01:29Her two children no longer live in Pascuesa, but she didn't want to leave.
01:35We're all neighbours or relatives.
01:39Over there are my cousins.
01:42This here's a neighbour, Herminia too.
01:46She used to live across from me. I get along well with everyone. I'm happy.
01:53The residents decide on their daily schedule themselves.
01:57Nothing is set in stone.
02:00What matters are the people, not a routine.
02:04The age-friendly village and the senior centre are run by a local association.
02:09For chairperson Cristina, the initiative is the key to keeping the town alive.
02:16We're keeping the population here.
02:19If elderly people can stay at home, the economy stays too.
02:23Everything to do with providing for them.
02:26That's progress. As long as there are residents here, there's work.
02:35There's even still a small supermarket in the heart of the village,
02:39while in other places stores are closing down.
02:42Almudena sells groceries, household items.
02:45Anything the residents need.
02:47Her business benefits from the senior centre residents, employees and the visitors.
02:53It makes a difference, of course.
02:55All the people who don't move away, who go to the centre, they all shop at my store.
03:01On the other hand, my store's important for them too.
03:04We benefit from each other.
03:11Jose Vicente also shops here.
03:13Ten years ago, as the village mayor, he helped to launch the project.
03:20It worked here because everyone pitched in.
03:23Setting up a project like this in a village with 150 residents doesn't make financial sense.
03:29No company would take it on.
03:31It works because so many people volunteer.
03:35But the centre also needs subsidies.
03:38And they might soon disappear.
03:40The village hopes the centre will survive.
03:44We still don't know what will happen in 2025.
03:51With only the residents' contributions and publicly funded housing spots,
03:56we couldn't keep our services running.
04:04Armenia, the olive farmer, is optimistic that the centre will somehow be able to keep going.
04:10She's glad she's secured a spot for herself in time.
04:17If I ever urgently need a care spot, there might not be one.
04:21For now, I'm still doing fine.
04:23This way I have a room, I share it with another resident, and I'm not alone.
04:32Like Armenia, over half of the residents here are over 60, and that number will rise.
04:37But the village is determined to make it work.