Four years were enough to question the negative labels attached to Spain. The country was not emptied, nor was its population erased. A more hopeful view emerges: rural Spain living, vibrant and alive. The Madrid demonstration on March 31, 2019, marked the start of a movement that shed years of silence from local authorities and national media and began to focus on real urban life rather than distant abstractions.
We stand at a turning point. Organized by FEMP IV and reinforced at the Congress on Population Reduction and Demographic Struggle, the path to renewal has begun, though it does not yet span the entire country. The flow brings attention to cities, and even in the capital there are more than twenty-seven provincial capitals losing residents. Frances Boya, general secretary of Reto Demografico, notes that towns with a viable plan will endure. Some communities have one, others are actively pursuing one. Municipalities and provincial councils are scrambling to secure available funds, while a shortage of technicians complicates the process. Hundreds of non-governmental organizations work across the region, supported by a multitude of entrepreneurs who seek government help and streamlining of procedures. For instance, many abandoned farms vanish with the past depopulation of more than half a million people in Galicia alone, according to Xunta estimates. And there are efforts to liberate houses that would be razed if left vacant, inviting those who want to relocate to the countryside to seek shelter there. The pandemic reshaped the idea that rural areas are primarily for health needs, including mental health, rather than for population growth.
Knowledge and experience were exchanged at this Congress of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. Castilla La Mancha unanimously approved a pioneering Population Reduction Law. Extremadura joined Galicia in shaping incentives that reward birth rates more than any other region. Other communities such as Andalusia aim to regain momentum. Valencia reveals two realities: a coastal region and a starkly different interior landscape that is largely desolate. And so on.
The discussion also examines tax benefits for residents of rural Spain, acknowledging that services are farther away and that property values contribute to environmental stewardship in a country with pronounced regional disparities: eighty percent of Spaniards live in just twenty percent of the territory.
A government announcement lifts spirits: high-speed Internet access is now available via Hispasat, with a direct subsidy to cover equipment costs and monthly bills. Miguel Angel Panduro, CEO of Hispasat, states, “we can stop depopulation by connecting every corner of Spain at high speed.”
Following the congress, a sense of institutional consensus is encouraging. It stands apart from the often fierce dialectical conflicts that color parliamentary debates. Assemblies and municipal councils still push for more funds from the Autonomous Communities and, in return, additional support from the State to deliver services that would otherwise be lacking. This consensus signals progress: the question is who will oppose laws in high demand. “During these years, the rural identity of a town dweller weakened,” remarks Miguel Gracia, president of the Diputación de Huesca. He adds that laws and regulations must now be scrutinized with a rural lens. A new era is unfolding. There are real challenges ahead, yet there is also genuine hope.