This Spanish town’s on a mission: To shed 1,00,000kg by 2020

In a remote corner of northwestern Spain, a small town has set itself the ultimate weight loss challenge: by early 2020, its residents must shed 1,00,000 kilos (220,500 pounds).

Gone are bacon and fried calamari from the diets of thousands of residents in Naron who are taking to sport again as part of a slimming programme that kicked off in January.

“In the 21st century, people forget they’re made to walk,” says Carlos Pineiro, the 63-year-old family doctor behind the programme.

Pineiro often swaps his practice for the local wooded park where he helps dozens of others warm up and exercise.

Conrado Vilela Villamar 65, a former crane operator, is one of Pineiro‘s regulars. “In Spain where people say that you can eat everything in the pig, the first food I stripped from my diet are tripe, pork belly and cold cuts,” he says.

Perched on the Atlantic coast of the Galicia region, the 40,000-strong town counts 9,000 overweight residents and another 3,000 who suffer from obesity, Pineiro says.

Known for its gastronomy and often gargantuan dishes, Galicia is the region in Spain with the most overweight people, according to a study by the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

Over 4,000 residents — or a tenth of the population have joined the project. To show their support, the mayor, Marian Ferreiro, and her municipal councillors weighed themselves together in public on giant scales. The programme, drawn up by local doctors, offers personalised diets and physical activity adapted to those who adhere.

In the town, 18 restaurants now offer healthier dishes by promoting an Atlantic-style diet full of seafood. “I replace salt with algae, fish infusions or a simple dehydrated mussel, and butter with virgin olive oil,” says Diego Platas, a restaurant owner.

At the Jorge Juan school in Naron, pupils are being encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle in a pilot programme in the town. The school’s 224 students are given the option of doing sport for one hour every day and those who are reticent can ride an exercise bike for an activity called “I pedal while reading”.