17% of the rural territory is simultaneously exposed to high rates of depopulation and aridity

Spain's rural areas are undergoing unprecedented environmental and social transformations, with depopulation and climate change as the most prominent protagonists. In fact, 28% of the Spanish rural territory is exposed to high rates of depopulation, 45% to problems of aridity, and 17.5% to both problems at the same time.

This is the main conclusion of the study "Desertified Spain", by the Observatorio Social de la Fundación "la Caixa" and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), carried out by researchers Cara Maeztu, Gerard Pocull, Esteve Corbera and Sergio Villamayor-Tomas, from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB).

This 17.5% is reduced to 11.5% in accessible rural areas (with low population density and mostly agricultural land uses, but connected to urban centres) and increases to 23.3% in remote rural areas (with low population density, agricultural land uses and disconnected from urban centres).

Overlaying maps of the prevalence of depopulation in Spain with maps of exposure to climate change (measured, for example, through the risk of aridity) makes it possible to identify regions where there is double exposure.

In the face of this reality, there are several mitigating factors for depopulation, such as the development of agro-industry and renewable energies, rural and environmental tourism, immigration, housing availability, rural cultural and entertainment offer, and connectivity with urban areas. However, some of these factors can have undesirable effects, both social and environmental.

For example, agro-industrial development leads to the concentration of farms and agricultural services, making it difficult for young farmers and immigrants to access land. Similarly, agricultural intensification can contribute to soil erosion, overexploitation and pollution of water resources, thus increasing the risk of aridity and reducing the resilience of the territory to climate change.