U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra Julissa Reynoso (center) stands with recent graduates of the Department of State’s Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) and representatives from the Young Business Association (YBA) of Castilla-La Mancha, Jan. 23, in Cuenca, Spain. Mission Spain, now in its fourth year of AWE implementation, partnered with YBA to connect rural women entrepreneurs working in tourism and agribusiness with mentors through its network of more than 200 AWE graduates from across Spain. The U.S. track record on entrepreneurship is widely admired in Spain, and rural unemployment has become a pressing concern in the country’s emblematic central heartland as people abandon the countryside for opportunities in Spanish cities.
Photo by Ari Cañameras