Depopulation is not a new phenomenon but comes from afar, is global and seems irreversible, but now has more political performance. Although the depopulation of large areas of Spain is the result of a long historical process, the ingenious, media and electoral expression "emptied Spain" has become fashionable despite being a simple and equivocal expression. No one has emptied parts of Spain, nor does the absence of population mean they are empty, nor is depopulation intrinsically negative. Undoubtedly, the current political balance that makes a single deputy decisive in forming the state government has contributed to the relevance of this concept and, to get that deputy, it is more useful to turn attention to the regions where less votes are needed to elect it , that is, in the less populated provinces. It is therefore worth asking whether so many calls to "recover empty Spain" respond to the romantic desire to roll back to a rural Spain , which no longer exists, or are only promises to win those valuable votes.
More than half of the world's population already lives in cities and it is estimated that in 10 years that percentage will increase to 60%. The concentration of the population in large cities is a worldwide and irreversible trend for now because people have always changed their place of residence looking for better living conditions and, in these moments of generalized access to information and communication via the Internet, invitations to Improving living conditions are more tempting than ever. On the contrary, the desire to reside in areas where many negative messages about depopulation and deficiencies and few about the opportunities and advantages that they could offer are spread out.
The spatial redistribution of the Spanish population has been the result of many different causes throughout history. The "void" or depopulation comes from past times and Spain has always been very weakly populated, with large areas with densities close to absolute depopulation. Currently, two thirds of the more than 8,000 municipalities have less than 1,000 inhabitants and 72% of the population is concentrated in 1% of the territory. Municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants inevitably lose population and the current perception of the quality of life, which modifies some of the location criteria, intensifies the tendency to concentrate in large agglomerations. Contrary to what one might think, improvements in infrastructure and means of transport contribute to this urban concentration because they disconnect the place of residence from the workplace and, weakened the distance barrier, the home where there is better provision of services and opportunities for leisure.
The 1978 Constitution established a new administrative political organization of the territory: decentralization and greater municipal autonomy, but it cannot be said that this had a positive impact on depopulation. A map of excessively fragmented municipalities and provinces has been consolidated and, with honorable exceptions, the autonomous communities have not seen fit to face territorial planning policies; the different public authorities have focused on competitiveness strategies, seeking local political revenues in the short term, and have neglected the advantages that inter-territorial cooperation would entail.
Attention is legitimately demanded of "depopulated Spain"; Undoubtedly, all Spaniards have the same right to access services and equipment and there is general interest in the fact that assets are not depreciated in areas threatened with depopulation, but it would not be realistic to forget that without minimum demand thresholds, economic activities and services cannot be maintained. audiences with adequate endowments. The inertia of population concentration in large metropolitan areas will not be modified with specific and voluntary actions in depopulated areas. The inefficiency of large investments in transport infrastructure is sufficiently established and fiscal incentives to promote initiatives linked to the territory will be useless if they will not be viable when the aid ends.
However, there are opportunities that the horror of the demographic void does not let us see. Some unpopulated areas can be, as natural spaces, another great attraction of Spain since the natural environment configures very diverse and valuable territories by themselves, with or without population. We may not be aware of the great value of having extensive territories barely altered by the footprint of man in the Europe of the 21st century, a generally overpopulated area, with an increasingly idle population and where the best care of nature becomes inescapable. Given this perspective, it is worth studying another approach of "depopulated Spain" in which the remedy is not to try to artificially and uselessly force residence in sparsely populated areas.
We would conclude by saying that a territorial vertebration policy adapted to the times is necessary and that it will address the following challenges as a priority: reconsider the number of municipalities, or even provinces, as other countries in our environment have done, in addition to applying territorial cooperation criteria to share facilities and services versus those of competitiveness. Pay greater attention to the care and promotion of natural spaces so that they constitute an attraction in themselves and are the object of enjoyment ordered by a European society that will have more and more free time. Facing the transformation of the economic model, based on construction and urban development, by another based on the conservation and reuse of existing heritage. Promote sustainable production activities of a local nature in rural areas. Take advantage in rural areas of the technological innovations already available such as energy self-sufficiency, the multiplicity of means of transport and the jump in communications that 5G is assuming for the surveillance, conservation and promotion of heritage in depopulated areas. And always from the certainty that we are facing a new and very dynamic society, with criteria of residential location and consumption habits closely linked to the city.
Obviously, this policy would have to be agreed to last beyond a legislature and brave for the profound changes it implies. The result would be greater territorial sustainability, revaluation of private and institutional assets and generation of other types of wealth and employment in sparsely populated areas, although these employees probably will not reside permanently there.
Julio Vinuesa is Professor Emeritus of Human Geography (UAM) and Pedro Moraleda is a lawyer and energy analyst.
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