Today, the newspaper El Mundo has organised the ‘Somos Castilla y León’ (We all are Castilla y León) Conference, in which I had the pleasure of participating talking about depopulation. Among the main reasons for the depopulation of our villages, we can find essential elements that have deteriorated the ability to attract and retain people in rural areas. In my opinion, there are at least five reasons why this misfortune is happening in our villages:
The first one is of a social nature. The few job opportunities for highly educated young people are leading to an ageing population.
The second reason, of an administrative nature, is about the existence of regulations that hinder, or directly impede, entrepreneurship in rural areas.
A third one could be of an economic nature and has a large-scale impact, that is the unequal investment both in infrastructure and in the promotion of urban areas to the detriment of rural ones.
The fourth reason is that there is a significant technological deficit in relation to connectivity, since in rural areas it is frequent to find areas with very little accessibility to Internet and communication networks.
Finally, I would point out a fifth reason, which is none other than the existing deficit in terms of health, education, leisure and culture.
Conferences like this one give us the opportunity to change our points of view and opinions. We have a long way to go, and we have to work to continue the fight against depopulation. We must all come together and do our bit. Enterprises, media, public administrations and companies such as Bodegas Familiares Matarromera, located in rural areas and facilitators of employment and economic growth, have the bases and control means to begin to take measures to alleviate depopulation and bring life to our villages, a real source of wealth in this region.
