Rural Depopulation and the Migration Turnaround in Mediterranean Western Europe: A Case Study of Aragon

Abstract

We have selected Aragon in the northeast of Spain as a long-run case study for the problem of rural depopulation in Mediterranean Western Europe. The strength and persistence of the depopulation in the region has left numerous rural districts in extreme situations of low demographic density. The basic cause of this phenomenon is the intensity of rural-to-urban migratory processes in the Aragonese countryside. Rural depopulation in Aragon has not yet stopped. However, important changes have taken place since the 1990s. In the first place, migration has been replaced by negative natural growth as the key factor in rural depopulation. Furthermore, the current situation features a reversal of the migratory balance, resulting in a sharp deceleration in depopulation since 2001 and positive growth in the larger country towns. This switch in migratory flows is partly due to the arrival of foreign-born immigrants, who are attracted by opportunities arising as a result of the difficulty of replacing the active population. At the same time, Aragon is close to the top of the ranking of Spanish regions in terms of per capita income, while an incipient process of restructuring and change has begun in the rural hinterland and the emergence of new residential and tourist functions has helped attract Spanish urban migrants.