(17 February 2021) – Almost 46% of the Spanish territory has lost more than half of its population since 1950 and therefore considerable economic power, a new survey by Spanish think tank Funcas reveals.
This heavy loss of population badly hit 23 Spanish provinces in the so-called “depopulated Spain” known as the “España vaciada”, which consists of mostly rural areas but also medium-sized cities, the study reveals.
The most serious economic and demographic impact took place from the 1950s to the 1980s. “Since 1991, a stabilisation of the population has been detected with a slight increase in the first decade of this century”, according to the study.
The depopulation problem is particularly severe in nine Spanish provinces: Castille and Leon, three regions in the community of Aragón, two in Extremadura, four in Castille-La Mancha (Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara), two in Galicia (Lugo and Ourense), two in the community of Andalusia (Córdoba and Jaén) and La Rioja.
Of particular note is the cumulative annual GDP growth rate which since 1950 has been one percentage point below the national average in seven of these provinces (Soria, Avila, Cuenca, Zamora, Palencia, Segovia and Ourense) and half a point below in another seven (Salamanca, Leon, Lugo, Badajoz, Huesca, Teruel, and Ciudad Real). (EurActiv)