A SMALL Alicante province town has launched a phone app that it hopes will fight depopulation by bringing together single people.

Salinas in the Alto Vinalopo region has around 1,500 residents- 25% of which are non-Spaniards- and is using an AI-based app to make both residents and tourists aware of each other.

The app revolves around a tapas route being held on March 23 and 24 and can be downloaded by searching for ‘Salinas City Council’ on Google Play for Android and Play Store for iOS.

People will be able to ‘like’ or ‘match’ with fellow participants with the hope that its the first step in a friendship or something more substantial.

Salinas mayor, Isidro Monzo, said: “Our mission is to turn Salinas into an innovative and attractive town that can counter depopulation.”

Participants will get a notification on their phone whenever anybody reacts to them via the app.

“We are an attractive town, where you can breathe tranquility but at the same time we want to continue attracting people who want to settle here and enjoy what we have,” Monzo commented.

The app will also have a facility where participants can enter a draw for a weekend hotel break in Benidorm where potentially a new couple can get to know each other better.

Salinas is a member of the Network of Cities of Science and Innovation and in recent years has been working to give a new look to popular local events by embracing technology.