Small-town Rafal takes the spotlight as its imaginative classroom adventure bags top prize for good governance RAFAL, May 28, 2025 – A tiny town with a big imagination has just scored a major win! The innovative school project ‘De Rafal a París’ has clinched the VII Good Governance Award from the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) in the Education, Culture, Sport, and Valencian Language Promotion category. The project turned the entire town of Rafal into an educational playground, taking students on a virtual journey from Rafal to Paris, just in time for the Olympics. With the help of gamified lessons, creative challenges, and community-wide teamwork, this ambitious idea brought classrooms and citizens together like never before. The grand finale? The ‘Rafal-París Olympics’, hosted at local sports facilities, where students showcased their work and took part in a full-blown Olympic-style celebration, backed by a town-wide fitness app that helped “clock the kilometers” to reach Paris! It wasn’t just about sports – students explored languages, history, art, geography, and Valencian culture, even producing their own school podcast in Valencian. Education Councillor Gabriel Valero praised the town’s total commitment: “We didn’t just teach; we mobilized the whole of Rafal!” Meanwhile, Mayor Manuel Pineda called the win “a triumph of community, creativity, and collective effort.” With the award ceremony set for April 2026, Rafal proves that with heart, innovation, and teamwork, even a small town can dream big – and make it all the way to Paris.