The Spanish Rural Development Network REDR has published the translation of the Study RedPoblar “Analyzing Rural Areas in a Positive Way” (2018) that tries to reflect the reality of the rural society with its weaknesses and challenges, and to denounce the demographic situation of the Spanish territories.
Rural depopulation is a problem. As the introduction says, in Spain “more than half of the rural municipalities are at risk of disappearing”. However, this “social phenomenon” has not yet reached the political agenda. “Proof of this has been the publication of the New Regulation of Common Provisions for regional and cohesion policy (2021-2027), which expressly does not address this capital problem that rural areas across Europe face with extreme urgency.”
Because according to the Spanish Rural Developement Network (REDR) the appropriate solutions have to be found so that the threat of depopulation does not end up destroying the socioeconomic fabric of the rural environment, it is urgent “to change the point of view and focus on those innovative aspects that can help not only to combat the situation of rural depopulation but also to reverse it, based on constructive initiatives and not only on analysis and pessimistic assessments.”