Beautiful Spanish towns are facing a crisis as young people move away and the remaining older population ages. Picturesque spots, such as Huelva, Sevilla, Malaga, Cordoba, Jaen and Almeria. More than 54% of Andalusian municipalities were considered at risk of depopulation, as of December. Many reportedly have fewer than 3,000 residents. In an effort to attract newcomers and boost their populations, homes are being offered to rent for as little as €200 per month. Alternatively if you’re looking to purchase a property, you can do so from €45,000, The Olive Press reports.
Sur has listed 11 “endangered areas”, which are: Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche, the Sierra del Segura and Cazorla, Sierra de la Olla de Guadix and Baza, Los Pedroches and the Guadiato valley, Alpujarra, Sierra Morena and Vega Alta and Sierras Occidentales de Malaga. The list also included: Andévalo and the county of Cuenca Minera in Huelva, Sierra Filambre and Alamilla, El Condado in Jaen and the north-western area of Cadiz and Los Alcornocales.
The province with the highest percentage of depopulated municipalities is Granada, data suggests.
It has 174 municipalities. Of these, 121 (69.5%) are considered to be at risk.
Almeria, meanwhile, has 103 municipalities, of which 69 (67%) have fewer than 3,000 inhabitants.
Huelva is also a source of concern, with 49 out of its 80 municipalities (61%) experiencing the phenomenon.
Next is Jaen, which has 56 out of 97 (58%), and finally Malaga with 59 out of 103 municipalities, or 57%.
Slightly less affected are Cordoba – 37 out of 77 (48%) – and Cadi- 11 out of 45 (24%) – and Seville – 24 out of 106 (23%).
A 2022 academic study by Dr David Rodríguez-Rodríguez and Professor Remedios Larrubia Vargas of the University of Malaga highlighted “massive rural emigration to cities and other European countries” by people pursuing “better working and living conditions” in the 1950s and 1960s.
The article added: “Such trends decreased in the following decades, but never stopped or were reversed.”
Policies aiming to enhance rural communities have devised by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development of the Common Agricultural Policy, it also notes, but the implementation of these has been “uneven”.
Dr Rodríguez-Rodríguez and Prof Larrubia Vargas added: “The scarcity of basic services, including healthcare, primary and secondary education, public transport, food provision and cultural and leisure activities has been a constant claim by Spanish and European rural residents for a long time.”