Spanish Population and Urbanization: Structure and Settlements

Structure by Age

Spain's population has been experiencing the phenomenon of ageing for years due to declining birth rates and an increase in life expectancy. Nowadays, Spain is one of the most aged countries in the world. The degree of ageing is very uneven across regions:

• Small rural municipalities, which are common in the north of the peninsula, have an ageing population.
• Urban areas have a higher proportion of youth population, which has also seen an increase due to the arrival of immigrants.

In the future, an increase in the proportion of elderly is expected to continue; this will have an impact on some public spending areas, increasing the cost of pensions or elderly care.

Structure by Gender and Economic Activity

The active population (those who are working or interested in doing so) has been declining. There has also been an increase in the number of people working in the services sector. The number of women has been traditionally higher, but in recent years the gap between men and women has closed.

Internal Migration

In Spain, there has been a very strong rural exodus: this is the migration of population from the countryside to the cities. This internal migration began in the 19th century, but increased greatly from the 1950s and 1960s.

The Rural Exodus in Spain Had the Following Consequences:

• Many rural areas became depopulated. There was a massive transfer of population from rural areas to the bigger cities and to regions where the tourist industry was growing.
• Cities increased rapidly in size, but city authorities often found it difficult to improve planning and services (schools, transport, healthcare, etc.) to meet the needs of their growing populations.
• The expansion of cities enlarges their surrounding areas. As a city grows, part of its urban population often lives a considerable distance away from the centre and needs to commute.

Regions of Destination

The regions of destination were industrialised areas: Cataluña, País Vasco, Madrid and Valencia.

Regions of Origin

The main regions of origin that saw a decline in population were in central and southern Spain: Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha and Andalucía.

External Migration

Up to the 1930s

Most Spanish emigration was to Latin America. About one and a half million Spaniards went to live there between 1886 and 1915 to improve their economic situation.

Civil War and Post-War

A wave of political refugees was forced into exile after the Civil War and during Franco's dictatorship. Other people left to escape post-war poverty.

Between 1959 and 1973

About one million Spaniards, especially from the less industrialised regions like Andalucía and Extremadura, went to live in the main industrialised countries in Europe such as Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium.

From 1973

The global economic crisis of 1973 made it harder to find jobs in Europe and many emigrants returned to Spain. The Spanish economy grew rapidly in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and new job opportunities meant people stayed in the country.

Since 2008

The economic crisis has led to a new rise in emigration. Nowadays, it is mainly young well-qualified workers who emigrate, because they are more likely to find jobs in other countries.

Characteristics of the Immigrant Population

Until recently, Spain was not a country that attracted immigrants; but since the late 1990s, there has been an unprecedented increase in the arrival of immigrants. Today, over five million immigrants live in Spain and there may be as many as one million more living in Spain without official papers.

Origin of Immigrants

Most immigrants come to Spain for economical reasons. They are attracted by the possibility of working in Spain and also as a way of entering the European Union. Their origins are very varied. Many come from Latin America (32%), Eastern Europe (17.75%) and Africa (over 17%). They generally live in big cities, where there were more work opportunities before the recent economic crisis. An important number of immigrants are from European Union member countries, like Germany and the United Kingdom. Many of them are older people who settle in Spain when they retire. They generally settle on the east coast where they can enjoy the lifestyle and climate.

Gender Distribution

There are more men than women in the immigrant population, for example among African immigrants. However, the proportion of women is higher among immigrants from Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Age Distribution

Most immigrants are of working age. People between 22 and 44 years old age represent about 50% of the total immigrant population.

The Effects of Immigration on Society

Positive Effects

Immigration has had positive effects on Spanish society. These include an increase in the birth rate in recent years and the arrival of a large workforce for the agriculture, tourism, construction, and elderly care sectors. Moreover, immigrants contribute to the country's economy with the taxes they pay. They have also helped to create a more diverse culture.

Harmful Effects

However, immigration has also created problems. Mafias bring immigrants into the country illegally, and then exploit them once they arrive. Illegal immigrants live precariously. Immigrants may also face xenophobic and racist attitudes and become alienated, especially if they do not speak good Spanish.

Rural Settlement

Rural settlements are usually located in areas where water and fertile land are found. Agriculture, grazing and forestry can all be carried out in this type of environment. There are two types of rural settlements:

• Dispersed settlement: The population lives in independent housing that is dispersed across an extensive territory. This type of settlement is common in some parts of northern Spain, especially in mountainous regions.
• Concentrated settlement: Buildings are built close together, forming villages and small towns. This type of settlement is common in many Spanish regions, like Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura.

Urban Settlement

An urban environment is very different from a rural landscape. Urban settlements have high population densities. The urban population has grown considerably over the last two centuries, mainly as a result of rural exodus. The main consequences of high population densities in urban areas are:

• Services and industrial activities are all located in fairly small areas.
• Taller buildings that are closer together.

Cities are centres of communications with airports and train stations. Transportation in urban areas becomes highly complex because it includes several transport networks, creating a great deal of traffic.

Cities Nowadays

These are the criteria for what constitutes a city:

• Population density: Cities have large populations. Localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants are considered to be cities.
• Housing density: Urban areas have high housing densities, especially high-rise buildings, and a vast services infrastructure.
• Economic activity of the population: City people work in the services or industry sectors.
• Lifestyle: City people have different backgrounds, so that an urban lifestyle is characterised by social contact and cultural exchanges.

Urban Design: City Structure

The structure of a city is the way its buildings, roads and open spaces are organised. It is represented on a city map. There are three common layout models: irregular, grid and concentric.

• Irregular: Streets are narrow and are not arranged in any order. Medieval cities have irregular layouts.
• Grid: Streets run in straight lines and cross each other at right angles to form a grid pattern.
• Concentric: Streets radiate outwards from a central square. Other streets cross them to form concentric circles.

Urban Design: City Zones

Many large cities have a complex layout, combining different features. This reflects their gradual expansion over a long period of time:

• Historic centre: This is the original centre of the city where historic buildings are located. In cities of mediaeval origin, the centre is likely to have narrow, winding streets.
• Suburbs: They are separate residential areas located on the outskirts of cities. Industrial parks and shopping centres are often built near these areas.

Settlements and the Environment

A settlement describes a territory occupied by people, and there are two basic types: rural and urban. In this unit we are going to study both of them, focusing on the types, functions, structure, morphology, historical evolution and the differences across the world. Urbanisation is the process which refers to the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas and its consequences.

The Concept of the City and Its Functions

Cities are formed by a large group of people, houses and other permanent buildings which form a settlement with high density of population. They are independent from foodsources (that is, they do not produce their food), so they depend on the surroundings (hinterland: area of influence of a city). On the other hand, they provide services for the people living in them and for other individuals from more distant areas, and are the centre of political, economic and cultural activities.

Three Main Characteristics Are Needed for a Human Settlement to Be Considered a City:

• Demographic size: Different countries use different criteria to define a city (10,000 inhabitants in Spain, 1,000 in Canada, 2,500 in the USA, etc.).
• The functions they perform: They usually carry out work in the tertiary sector, and sometimes in the secondary sector (mining and industrial cities). Cities are, by definition, independent from food sources. That is, they do not provide their own food, so they have to be supplied from somewhere else.
• Density and permanence: Cities have high population densities because the whole population is concentrated in a relatively small area.

Settlements and Economic Activity

Rural settlements take advantage of the surrounding environment. Buildings are adapted to their use (homes or workplaces using available materials like earth, stone, wood, and ice). Urban settlements transform and exhaust the surrounding environment, radically transforming forests and marshes.

The economic activities carried out by the population affect a settlement's form and the types of buildings. Urban settlements have less relationship with the natural environment.

Types of Rural Settlements

1. Arable farming zones: Areas of extensive agriculture: cereal, olive and grapevine. Settlement concentrated in large towns or villages. Areas of market gardening and irrigated agriculture show dispersed settlement.
2. Livestock farming zones: Dispersed settlements.
3. Fishing villages: Located around ports.
4. Mining towns: Next to the mines.

Towns and villages are the conglomerations that each population forms when people group together and organise themselves within a space that they use and work in. The form of a population depends on the activities on which it develops and on the limitations imposed by the surrounding environment.

Characteristics of Cities: Location, Structure and Morphology

A city is always linked with its origins and its original purpose. The main factors throughout history for location of cities have generally been defensive (on a hilly area such as Rome) or on the shores of a river such as Paris and London, and commercial (near crossroads, trading posts, navigable rivers, ports, etc., such as Istanbul, Hamburg, Barcelona, Lyon, etc.).

The urban structure is related with the different uses of the city, which are going to be related with past uses and their historical growth. We can identify historical areas, business areas, residential areas, commercial areas, slums and shantytowns.

Urban morphology refers to the external appearance of a city and is evident in the layout of the city and its streets, as well as in the buildings and their shapes. The different shapes are:

• Regular (grid layout): Ortogonal or checkerboard plan. First used in Greece, spread thanks to the Romans, and re-used from the 16th century onwards in new cities (Montevideo, Havana, Lima, New York City, San Francisco, etc.) and in expansions (Eixample in Barcelona, Barrio de Salamanca in Madrid, etc.).
• Radial or circular plan: Formed by a design of concentric rings, with streets radiating from its centre and cross streets forming circles around it. Moscow, Milan, Paris and Vitoria-Gasteiz are great examples of this type of plan.
• Irregular plan: With winding, narrow streets without a fixed model. Muslim and medieval cities such as Córdoba, central Madrid, Toledo and Lyon are examples of this.