Thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent years with a slogan developed over twenty years: “Spain was evacuated“. The long-standing demands of other groups, such as Teruel Exist and Soria Ya, and the sudden media attention to depopulation, reflected in Sergio del Molino’s famous article, expressed a political desire that came to a head at the end of 2019. Teruel’s arrival at the Congress of Deputies’ Available at.
It was a wake-up call, a fight against oblivion and a cry against the indifference of the central government. A rebellion against disappearance.
Is it private? Yes and no. This is because Spain has had a very specific demographic structure since historical times, characterized by a scarcity of urban centres. The reasons are political, military and geographical, but they undoubtedly highlight the urban exceptionalism of the country. On the other hand, this is not true because it is a continental phenomenon: Europe is moving from rural to urban. A transition conceived throughout the 20th century and culminating today. Everywhere you look, rural lands are being cleared for the benefit of cities.
The process has developed so rapidly that its effects are clearly visible in a very recent decade in Europe, the continent where urbanization began more than a century ago. That’s what this wonderful and very detailed map from the German study center BBSR shows.
The data is from 2001 to 2011 and, as explained in CityLab, is the most recent data that the institute (Federal Research Institute of Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development) has widely access to. Data for the continent using information compiled by each country’s national statistical institutes. From there the mechanism was simple: isolate the municipalities (or communes, depending on the name they received in each country) and check what happened to their population on an annual average during that period.
Europe is moving northwest
And a more or less intense color for each pattern. Red municipal terms represent gains between 0.1% and 2%, and blue terms represent losses between -0.1% and -2%. You can see the expanded map here:
There are a few interesting trends. On the one hand, Europe’s population is concentrated not only in cities but also in the west. France is almost entirely red, thanks largely to its excellent birth rate. The Po Valley, Switzerland, the Benelux Islands and the British Isles are also gaining a lot of population (2% in almost all municipalities in Ireland), as well as the coast of Spain, whose demographic growth is only comparable to disproportionate growth within the country. Madrid and its surroundings are the most highlighted city on the map.
Eastern Europe, a very pronounced rural migration
At the Washington Post, they broke down the data into sections:
Although all major capitals are experiencing population growth, especially around them, Madrid’s situation is particularly remarkable. Berlin does this despite its neighboring municipalities.
Things are quite different in Eastern Europe and Western Spain. The second is the most special case: the trend is exactly the opposite (towards the east) and very seriously Castilla y León is within the whole of Portugal, except for its two main cities, as well as Galicia and Asturias. The trend in the east of the continent is very similar to what happened decades ago in the west: cities represent concentrated red spots isolated in a sea of demographically stressed regions, thanks to the late rural exodus after the fall of Berlin. Wall.
Countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, Romania or the Baltic states are completely blue except for their major cities. The same thing is happening, very strikingly, in East Germany, whose states were evacuated for the benefit of Berlin. Poland, Hungary, Austria or Scandinavian countries also suffer from the same trends. From rural to city, from east to west. The population changes facing Europe are pressing, and the trends are noticeable in just a decade.
We will become increasingly urbanized in the future.
in Xataka | Empty birthing rooms: Spain has become the European laboratory of the second demographic transition
in Xataka | Spain faces moment of truth: 32 percent of newborns are children of foreign parents
*An earlier version of this article was published in April 2019.
Source: Xatak Android
Ashley Johnson is a science writer for “Div Bracket”. With a background in the natural sciences and a passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe, she provides in-depth coverage of the latest scientific developments.