Spain's Rural Crisis: Challenges and Solutions

The Crisis in Rural Areas

The crisis manifests itself in two key indicators: a decrease in the active population employed in the sector and a reduction in its contribution to GDP, currently around 3%. However, it is important to note that agricultural GDP grew in absolute terms. This situation has led to a reduced participation of the agrarian sector in external trade relations with the other two sectors. The trade balance showed a deficit between 1970 and 1995. This deficit was caused by an increase in food imports, related to a rising standard of living, and imports of tropical and timber products.

Principal Challenges Facing Rural Spain

The principal problems facing rural Spain are as follows:

Demographic Issues

• Population Decline and Aging: A significant decrease and aging of the rural population.
• Low-Skilled Labor: A lack of qualified labor.

Economic Challenges

• Lack of Diversification: Rural areas still exhibit insufficient diversification, maintaining an excessive dependence on agricultural activities.
• Unemployment: A primary consequence of this agricultural dependence is unemployment.
• Market Alignment: Agricultural activity must closely align with recent changes in food demand and dietary habits.
• Industrial Market Dependence: Dependence on the industrial market is growing, both in the supply of products and in sales to agro-food factories.
• CAP and Competitiveness: Growth requires agricultural modernization under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to increase competitiveness and yields, despite imposed production restrictions and decreasing prices.

Equipment and Quality of Life

• Accessibility Issues: Many rural areas face problems with accessibility.
• Lack of Infrastructure: There is a significant lack of basic infrastructure.
• Limited Services: Low provision of essential services and collective equipment.

Environmental Degradation

• Land Degradation: Agricultural activity contributes to land degradation.
• Deforestation and Erosion: Vegetation is degraded by deforestation, clearing vast spaces for agricultural or pasture land, leading to increased erosion.
• Soil Deterioration: The soil deteriorates due to overexploitation and contamination.
• Water Contamination: Surface water and aquifers suffer from overexploitation and contamination caused by chemical products and direct river discharges.

Strategies for Rural Development

These agricultural problems must be resolved globally through rural spatial planning policies. The main objective is to achieve comprehensive development by promoting the diversification of economic activities, encouraging the industrial transformation of products, and fostering rural tourism. Improving information infrastructure, collective equipment, and the quality of life is another key area of action for rural planning. Furthermore, the preservation of the environment is crucial, stemming from measures designed to achieve the objectives of EU rural development policy and to promote ecological agriculture.