Demographic Trends in Castile and León

Key Demographic Concepts

• Demographic Transition: The passage from an ancient demographic regime characterized by high birth and mortality rates to a modern one with low birth and mortality rates.
• Marriage Rate: The number of marriages that occur for every thousand inhabitants in a given year.
• Fertility Rate: The ratio between the number of births and the number of women of childbearing age (15-49 years).
• Infant Mortality Rate: The number of children under 1 year who died per 1,000 live births in a year.

Population Evolution in Castile and León

The capacity of the Douro Valley farming brought early human occupation to the territory. In the era of Rome, the landholding was quite intense. The repopulation of medieval times determined the structure of the occupation of the territory and its settlement. Following the discovery of America and new commercial ties, the population began to decline in the 17th century because of wars, pestilence, and the economic decay of Castile and León. The 19th century did not experience an industrialization process, which turned the region into one of crisis in the mining sector and the structure of the rural land regime. This encouraged the exodus in the 20th century, which was maintained by emphasizing internal imbalances and promoting regional underdevelopment. In the last decades, Castile and León remains a region of emigration, which weakens demographic growth.

Natural Movements

The crucial feature is its tendency toward natural growth with a negative sign. The birth rate is low (7%); it remained above average until the seventies of the 20th century, from where its descent began increasing. The mortality rate showed a higher value in the mid-20th century, followed by a descent. Today, the region experiences a mortality rate higher than the birth rate. Infant mortality also has values similar to the average.

Migratory Movements

These have been produced by the persistence of an agrarian and livestock economy, problems in rural areas, and the low level of industrialization. In the 20th century, this affected 2 million people. It was important for Latin American emigration to these lands; in the 1950s, it was headed toward European countries (France, Germany, and Switzerland), and in the 1970s, it went to Spanish cities (Madrid, the Basque Country, and Catalonia). Today, some weight is still fueled by emigration and rural exodus movements across provinces. Valladolid addresses these trends. Immigrants come from Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe, forced to migrate by the bad economic situation of their countries, working in construction, mining, agriculture, and domestic services.

Population Distribution

This is unevenly distributed across three zones:

• Mountainous: Sparsely populated with dispersed settlement.
• Plain Sector: Also experiencing depopulation.
• Urban Cores: Show large concentrations of population.

Population Composition

The population shows a tendency toward aging. The active population is somewhat lower than the Spanish average, and unemployment is high. The primary sector occupies a prominent position, while the tertiary sector has grown and presents further development.