A native of Soria, geographer Mercedes Molina has been investigating the bleeding of inhabitants that punishes 53% of the Spanish surface for two decades. It considers viable to reverse depopulation if it is approached not as a demographic challenge but as a crisis of the territory. In his opinion, the solution to the unsustainability of large cities must be linked to the opportunities offered by depopulated regions.

When will depopulation jump to the front line of the political agenda in Spain? It is already part of the political agenda, but I don't know if with the commitment I should. All parties should assume it not as a demographic problem, but as a crisis of the territory resulting from the public policies of the last decades in Spain. We know its demographic effects, such as aging, masculinization and the fall of birth. There are biologically dead peoples. But there are other problems of an economic nature derived from territorial competitiveness, such as the lack of infrastructure or services in rural areas. Traditional activities such as grazing or resineros have been lost. Active population and youth talent have been lost. The lack of forest management increases the risk of fires and the loss of extensive livestock activity contributes to scrubbing the mountain. Depopulation is a consequence of economic growth based on a model of territorial concentration of investment, employment and the population that has given priority to cities. Against this, there has been a rural abandonment. It has been innovated in agricultural production, but not in the territory. What does it mean to innovate in the territory? To adapt it to the new demands of economic processes. And that happens by articulating some infrastructures adjusted to these needs and by promoting accessibility both in the field of transport and telecommunications. If a territory remains isolated, it loses competitiveness to attract investments. Access to public services is very uneven depending on the territory. Everything cannot be everywhere, but all citizens have the right to enjoy basic public services. Is depopulation synonymous with inequality? This question is key. For me, depopulation is synonymous with inequality. It is a consequence of a new productive reality and territorial model that has determined a very strong forced emigration. This has meant a demographic decline that started in the 60s of the twentieth century. People left the rural world because they had no job opportunities and because the Spanish industry of that time demanded an unskilled labor force, which fed on the rural exodus. Paradoxically, the more it innovates in agricultural production, in terms of machinery and others, the more the active population in the field drops. We have left the rural world in some basic productions, for example, cereal, with little added value. The map prepared by Professor Antonio Serrano, Professor of Urban Planning and Land Management of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and member of the Interprofessional Association for Land Management (Fundicot), shows that the Spanish territorial system was based in 1980 on the Madrid axis -Barcelona. Then there were intermediate axes: the Mediterranean coast from Valencia to Murcia, Malaga-Seville, Vigo-La Coruña, Oviedo-Gijón, the Basque Country and Zaragoza as the dominant factor in the Ebro valley. What we have now is the same map, but reinforced. The gap is larger and we continue in a territorial model of concentration, which creates huge imbalances. Is the state's inability to reverse this process due to its ineffectiveness or the lack of political will of all governments? that we have of democracy, the State has reinforced the territorial concentration model. The problem stems from multiscale policies, hence both the central government and the autonomous communities have been unable to stop depopulation. The autonomies have carried out interesting actions, but many times they have been done in the cities, not in the rural world. The Autonomous Communities have encouraged the cohesion of their urban systems, but there has been no urban-rural cohesion. That is, partially, the state imbalance scheme has been reproduced in the communities. The proof is that the rural world continues to lose population. Castilla y León is a paradigmatic case: while Valladolid goes up, the rest sinks. The State of autonomies has had many positive points in Spain. It has fostered cohesion through the recognition of diversity. I am a defender of this model, but as far as the territorial model is concerned, there has been no transcendental change. The rural has never been integrated into a true state policy, not even small cities. The framework program of the European Union between 1994 and 1999 has already clearly indicated that inland Spain had real population problems due to internal inequalities. In 77% of the national area 59% of the population was located. The EU recommended investing in these areas at three levels: infrastructure, environment and heritage. Should the province be rethought as a system of territorial organization? The provincial model dates back to the one set by Javier de Burgos in 1833 and has remained unchanged until today. The city was considered a system of economic efficiency, but this has generated enormous inequalities. There is no social equity in all of Spain. And to this we must add the problems of quality of life. Peoples are associated with an environmental quality of life, and it is true. But you also have to have access to the necessary public services in the 21st century. This desertification model is not sustainable. Metropolization begins to have important negative externalities. The big city is no longer the paradigm of efficiency. It has problems of pollution, decoupling with natural resources, stress, congestion and inequality. The reports, from Cáritas to CCOO, indicate the risk of child poverty in Madrid. All this amplifies the gap with the rural environment. In Spain we have more than 8,000 municipalities. Municipal atomization is complicated. I am not in favor of merging municipalities, but of seeking alliances. We must prioritize the actions, what happens by not acting in each municipality but looking for integrated territorial structures that allow services to be covered. I am not talking about eliminating provincial councils, which would be a different issue, nor understanding the region as a political entity but as a productive system that, like the city, allows diversifying the economy. Is pollution in Madrid fixed by mitigating the emptiness of interior Spain? I will never speak of a rural-urban confrontation, nor of an opposition between metropolitan systems and small and medium-sized cities. I prefer to talk about a rural-urban integration. That happens to improve connectivity and the territorial model. Big cities can't keep growing constantly. If we really want to make a serious ecological transition and modify the production system to alleviate pollution and abuse of natural resources, we must foster economic development that integrates the rural world. It cannot be that we have the second most extensive AVE network in the world and that local and regional connections are getting worse. It cannot be that there is no housing market in rural areas. Politically, this process cannot be addressed through ideological divergences, but as a state challenge linked to the 2030 Agenda and the objectives of sustainable development. What can medium and small cities offer to balance the regional gap? The mayor of Soria, Carlos Martínez, accompanied the former mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, to several international forums to incardinate the development of small and medium cities with the challenges that metropolises have, such as pollution or mobility. Depopulated territories are problem territories , but also resource territories . I believe in its possibilities. The demands in our market economy are changing as a result of globalization. We give value to nature, local cuisine and renewable energy. The important thing is to be clear that the variable of profitability to apply in investments in the rural environment is old. Are we measuring Soria's contribution as a CO2 sink in its forests? What is the appropriate denomination to refer to depopulated areas? I don't like the empty Spain concept. Thanks to the people who inhabit the rural environment, thanks to the custodians of the territory, we have known how to preserve natural resources. And they are still there. How would you describe the human geography of inland Spain? It is a scarce, but diversified society. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has helped maintain the dignity of the farmer, but has not managed to fix population. Now we are also seeing local entrepreneurs. Businesses arise that allow the population to take root. Wine farms in the Ribeira Sacra, in Orense, are a paradigmatic example. In Soria, torrezno has gone from being a traditional and poor food to a brand image that is exported all over the world. In Alto Bernesga (León) projects are being developed to overcome the mining crisis. In short, in Spain, there are many people who want to continue living there, who see possibilities for the future, who like the rural world. But that claims the same living conditions that we urban people have. The Government advanced before 28-A the objectives of the Strategy against the Demographic Challenge. Should the Rural Development Law of 2007 be reactivated? Yes, and should be framed in a State policy. The demographic challenge reports will not be complete if territorial problems are not recognized in depopulated areas. The 2007 law must be updated addressing the lack of housing, linking repopulation to land management and mobilizing the land market: there is little available. And following the European guidelines. In November 2017, the European Parliament approved a strategy that contemplates that, under the European Regional Development Fund (Feder), administrative units such as the provinces but also local groups with a finalist plan can qualify. Pedro Sánchez proposed in summer give up the radial infrastructure model, which comes in response to claims such as the Extremadura train, the delay of the Duero Highway and the Cantabrian-Mediterranean Corridor. Does it coincide? For the first time, a president of the Government, even if he is in office, assumes that all communication channels do not have to start and end in Madrid. I think it is very important because it means recognizing a concept of territory in mesh, not radial. The 1999 EU strategy already contemplated this priority. The first measure, in the area of ​​rural areas, of the President of the Government leaving 10-N should be to change the territorial model, conceiving it as a state challenge. Teruel Existe is going to run for the first time. Does the 'PNV model' spread? Some actions in democracy have led to the belief of many territories that can only be heard if they reach an influence of power. That makes me sad. The social movement should be attended by whoever holds the political responsibility. The CEOE of the provinces of Cuenca, Soria and Teruel propose applying a differentiated taxation in depopulated areas. Do you see it feasible? I analyzed the document they prepared. How can differentiated taxation be implemented in such a wide territory? Would large property owners who hold possessions in rural areas also benefit? In the first place, it cannot be compared with the insular regime in the Canary Islands because this system is linked to the outermost regions, included in the founding treaties of the EU as a significant geopolitical element. Second, zoning would pose a problem. There are rich regions, such as Madrid, that have depopulation bags in the mountains. What do we do there? I do not share generalist policies aimed at tax cuts, but I do apply tax credits linked to job creation and population fixing. How do you analyze the role of women in the countryside? The masculinization of the countryside marginalized women. And even today it suffers a much more withdrawn cultural context than that of the urban world. The context of male domination is more pronounced in these areas. To the lack of visibility of sum the lack of will to put into practice the Law of Shared Ownership to emerge the true weight of women in agricultural and livestock work. Rural women have not been recognized for the invisible and hard role they have played.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

Tribune in search of the Andalusian footprint

nothing for little dog

Incorrect Chronicles Expendable Policies