Why 70% of Spain is Empty

Summary

Spain, the world's 14th largest economy, boasts an extensive high-speed rail system yet faces a paradoxical population distribution. While major cities like Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia are densely populated, the interior regions form a 'donut void' with sparse habitation. Historical events, including Franco's dictatorship and industrialization, alongside geographical factors like mountain ranges, have contributed to this demographic divide. The video also touches on Spain's low fertility rate and the potential solutions for balancing the population and development across the country.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Spain is the world's 14th largest economy with a population of over 47 million people.
• 🚄 Spain has the second-highest length of high-speed rail lines globally, only behind China.
• 🏙️ Despite its size, Spain has a lower population density compared to many European countries, with a 'donut-shaped' population distribution.
• 🏞️ There is a significant difference in population and development between coastal areas and the interior of Spain.
• 📉 The rural regions of Spain have experienced a population decline due to urbanization and industrialization.
• 🗻 Spain's geography, with its mountain ranges, plays a role in the sparse population distribution in certain areas.
• 🏛️ The era of Francisco Franco's dictatorship had long-lasting effects on Spain's development and population movement.
• 🌐 Spain has seen significant immigration, becoming the 4th most immigrated-to country in Europe.
• 📈 Spain's population growth has slowed significantly, with the lowest decade of growth on record between 2011 and 2021.
• 💼 The lack of investment in rural infrastructure continues to perpetuate a cycle of depopulation and underdevelopment.

Q & A

What is Spain's ranking in the world's largest economies?

Spain is the world's 14th largest economy.

How does Spain's high-speed rail infrastructure compare to other countries?

Spain has the second highest length of high-speed rail lines in the world, only lagging behind China.

What is the population density of Spain compared to England?

England has a population density more than four and a half times that of Spain.

What percentage of Spain's population lives within 30% of the country's total land area?

90% of the Spanish population lives within just 30% of the country's total land area.

What is the average population density in the 'empty' part of Spain?

The population density of the so-called 'empty' part of Spain is only about 18 people per square kilometer on average.

Which region in Spain is considered the second most sparsely populated region of the European Union?

The Seranya Caltabarica region is the second most sparsely populated region of the entire European Union.

What is the historical reason behind the rural exodus in Spain?

The rural exodus in Spain began in 1959 after Franco introduced the Plan Establización, which transformed the Spanish economy and attracted people to industrial areas.

How has Spain's population growth been in recent years?

Between 2011 and 2021, Spain's population only grew by 0.12 percent, the lowest decade of growth on record since record-keeping began.

What is one of the factors contributing to the lack of investment in rural Spain?

The lack of investment in infrastructure in rural communities makes them less attractive places to live, leading to a vicious cycle of depopulation and neglect.

What is the role of mountains in shaping the population distribution in Spain?

Spain's mountainous geography, including the Iberian System, the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees, the Central System, and the Betic System, contributes to the dispersion of population centers and the underdevelopment of the interior.

What is the demographic impact of the Franco era on Spain?

The Franco era led to a stagnant economy and decades of net emigration, with rural regions losing 28% of their populations over the past 50 years.

Outlines

00:00

🚄 Spain's Economic and Infrastructure Overview

Spain, with a population of over 47 million, stands as the world's 14th largest economy with a GDP exceeding 1.2 trillion USD. Despite its relatively small size, it boasts the second-highest length of high-speed rail lines, only behind China, facilitating rapid travel across major cities. However, Spain exhibits a unique demographic distribution with a 'donut hole' effect, where 90% of the population resides in 30% of the land, leading to vast underpopulated areas. This contrasts sharply with countries like England, which, despite being smaller, has a much higher population density.

05:01

🗻 Geographical and Historical Factors Shaping Spain's Demographics

Spain's mountainous terrain, including the Iberian, Cantabrian, Pyrenees, Central, and Betic systems, plays a significant role in its sparsely populated interior. The historical context, including the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and the subsequent economic stagnation, has led to a significant rural exodus. Post-WWII industrialization and economic reforms attracted many to urban areas, leaving rural regions neglected. The rural depopulation has been exacerbated by a lack of family support policies, leading to a low fertility rate and continued population decline in rural areas.

10:02

📉 The Decline and Future of Spain's Rural Regions

The province of Turuel exemplifies the decline of rural Spain, with its population halving over the past century due to industrialization and lack of infrastructure investment. The narrative describes a vicious cycle of depopulation and neglect, where lack of investment leads to fewer residents, which in turn deters further investment. The video suggests that Spain's future lies in increasing regional development investments to make these areas attractive for living and economic growth.

15:02

💼 Investment and the Future of Spain

The script concludes with a transition to the importance of investment in shaping individual and national futures. It introduces Public.com, an investment platform that emphasizes transparency and user data protection, offering commission-free trading in stocks, ETFs, and crypto. The platform's fractional share ownership feature allows users to invest in any amount, making investing accessible to everyone. The video encourages viewers to explore investment opportunities with Public.com for a chance to receive a free stock upon signing up and making a deposit.

Keywords

💡High-speed rail

High-speed rail refers to a category of rail transport that is significantly faster than conventional rail traffic, with speeds generally in excess of 200 km/h. In the context of the video, Spain is highlighted for having the second-highest length of high-speed rail lines in the world, which facilitates rapid travel between major population centers, despite the country's uneven population distribution.

💡Population density

Population density is a measure of the number of people living in a given area, typically expressed as the number of individuals per square kilometer. The video discusses the stark contrast in population density between Spain's coastal cities and its interior, with the latter being much less populated, creating a 'vacant donut-shaped' population distribution.

💡Economic development

Economic development refers to the process by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its inhabitants. The video touches on Spain's economic development, particularly the industrial reforms introduced in the 1950s and 1960s that transformed the country's economy and attracted people from rural areas to urban centers.

💡Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth's landscapes, peoples, places, and environments. The video script uses geography to explain the natural barriers, such as mountain ranges, that contribute to Spain's uneven population distribution and the relative underdevelopment of its interior regions.

💡Franco's era

Franco's era refers to the period of Spanish history from 1939 to 1975 when General Francisco Franco ruled as a dictator. The video discusses how Franco's policies, including the 'Plan Estabilizacion', led to industrialization and urbanization, contributing to the depopulation of rural Spain.

💡Immigration

Immigration is the act of moving to a new country with the intention of residing there permanently. The video notes that Spain has experienced significant immigration in recent decades, with most immigrants settling in urban areas, further concentrating the population in certain regions.

💡Fertility rate

Fertility rate refers to the average number of children born per woman of childbearing age. The video mentions Spain's low fertility rate, which demographers attribute to a lack of family support policies, contributing to the country's slow population growth.

💡Infrastructure

Infrastructure encompasses the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. The video discusses the lack of infrastructure investment in rural Spain, which has led to a vicious cycle of depopulation and underdevelopment.

💡Rural exodus

Rural exodus is the mass migration of people from rural to urban areas. The video script describes how rural regions of Spain experienced a significant loss of population due to the push factors of economic hardship and the pull factors of industrialization and job opportunities in cities.

💡Investment

Investment in the video's context refers to the allocation of resources into projects or assets with the expectation of generating an income or profit. The video suggests that increased investment in Spain's rural regions could help reverse the trend of depopulation and underdevelopment.

Highlights

Spain is the world's 14th largest economy with a GDP of over 1.2 trillion USD.

Spain has the second highest length of high-speed rail lines globally, only behind China.

Despite its size, Spain has a population density similar to less populated countries like Norway or Kansas.

90% of Spain's population lives within 30% of the country's land area, creating a 'donut-shaped' population distribution.

The Seranya Caltabarica region is the second most sparsely populated area in the EU.

Spain's rural regions have lost 28% of their populations over the past 50 years.

The rise of Francisco Franco and the Spanish Civil War had a significant impact on Spain's population and economy.

Spain's economy was stagnant for decades under Franco's dictatorship.

Post-WWII Spain experienced decades of net emigration due to economic hardships and political conflicts.

Spain's industrialization in the 1960s led to a massive influx of people from rural areas to cities.

Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in Western Europe, attributed to a lack of family support policies.

The province of Turuel exemplifies the rural exodus, with only half the population it had a century ago.

Investment in infrastructure is key to reversing the rural decline in Spain.

Public.com is an investing app that allows for commission-free investing in stocks, ETFs, and crypto.

Public.com offers fractional share ownership, making it easier for anyone to invest in stocks regardless of budget.

Transcripts

this is spain with more than 47 million

people in an economy of well over 1.2

trillion us dollars spain is the world's

14th largest economy in one of the

wealthiest and most developed countries

in the world the spanish economy is only

slightly smaller than russia's a country

with only three times as many people and

a lot more land and despite being only a

medium-sized country itself spain has

the second highest length of high-speed

rail lines of any country in the world

only lagging behind china not the per

capita length of high-speed rail but the

overall amount of it which is insane it

means that despite only being around the

same size as just california spain has

more than five times the amount of

high-speed rail lines as the entirety of

the united states combined has thus it's

incredibly easy to travel rapidly

between all of spain's most major

population centers clustered around

madrid in the center and the

mediterranean and atlantic coastlines in

the south and the north but here's the

strange part for europe spain is a big

country it's nearly four times the size

of england and yet england is home to

nine million more people than spain is

the population density of people in

england is more than four and a half

times the density of people that's seen

in spain and that's largely true across

the entirety of europe and the big

reason why is because there's a lot of

empty land in spain between madrid in

the center and the big cities on the

coasts where all those fancy high-speed

rail lines connect to the land is pretty

much empty of people almost everywhere

forming this weird vacant donut-shaped

population void throughout the entirety

of the country's interior there is

therefore the populated and developed

spain that we're all aware of and have

maybe traveled to like barcelona madrid

or valencia and there's the empty and

underdeveloped part of spain that most

of us are woefully unaware of and the

difference in population and area

between these two sides of spain outside

and within the donut void are genuinely

enormous and potentially catastrophic

for the entire country 90 of the spanish

population more than 42 million people

live within just 30 percent of the

country's total land clustered around

the big cities on the coasts and the

notable anomalies of madrid and zargoza

in the center and that means that just

10

of the spanish population where only

about 4.7 million people live within the

remaining 70

of the country's total land area within

and around the empty donut shape the

population density of this so-called

empty part of spain that takes up 70 of

the land is only about 18 people per

square kilometer on average which is

unparalleled anywhere else in western

europe for comparison that's pretty much

the same density of people in norway or

the us state of kansas but then there

are certain areas within empty spain

that are substantially more empty than

others one of these areas is here the

seranya caltabarica region spanning

across many of spain's internal

provinces this area isn't small it's

roughly the same size as the u.s state

of west virginia or the republic of

ireland and yet while those territories

have populations of 1.8 million and 5

million people respectively the seranya

cult america has little more than 503

000 residents there's only four

localities throughout this entire region

with a population of greater than 20 000

people and as a result the average

population density throughout it is only

about eight people per square kilometer

about on a par with the u.s state of new

mexico this makes the seranya

caltabarica the second most sparsely

populated region of the entire european

union with even fewer people per square

kilometer than either european russia or

the scottish highlands the only region

of the eu that's more sparsely populated

and remote is the northernmost region of

the scandinavian peninsula stretching up

into the arctic circle lapland where the

density is more between two and five

people per square kilometer which

shockingly isn't that much less than

this big region in the middle of

temperate spain which is why some people

refer to it as the spanish lapland the

area is so remote compared to the rest

of western europe that for three out of

four of the villages and towns within it

it takes more than a 45 minute drive

just to reach the nearest actual city a

big part of the reason why this specific

area is so devoid of people is because

of the iberian system a medium-altitude

mountain range that stretches right

through the center of spain and the

saranya cultivarica thus the steep

geography the high average altitude and

the resulting dispersion of population

centers across the limited inhabitable

valleys of the area are among several of

the natural explanations for the surania

celtibarica's relative underdevelopment

this is further enhanced by the fact

that within just a 100 kilometer radius

of the iberian system mountains you'll

find the very large population centers

of madrid valencia zaragoza and bilbao

and these are far from the only

mountains that limit the expansion of

settlements within the country there's

also the cantabrian mountains in the

northwest the pyrenees along the border

with france the central system that cuts

directly across the middle and the bedic

system that slices across the southeast

spain is a very mountainous country and

as a result it has the second highest

average elevation of countries within

the european union only remaining behind

austria which is largely covered by the

alps but mountains alone do not explain

the whole story austria and switzerland

are both far more mountainous than spain

is on average and yet they both are

substantially more densely populated on

average a lot of the further reasons why

the spanish interior is so relatively

empty is because of a long history of

tragedies and centralized government

policies over the past 50 years the

rural regions of spain have lost 28

of their populations and the story that

explains why begins back in the 1930s

with the rise to power a francisco

franco the spanish civil war was fought

between the left-wing republicans and

the right-wing nationalists for three

years between 1936 and 1939 immediately

prior to the second world war and the

violence was devastating

leaving around half a million people

dead across the country franco emerged

victorious and established a

fascist-style dictatorship in spain

closely connected to his civil war-era

allies of nazi germany and fascist italy

though he kept spain officially neutral

throughout world war ii as a result his

dictatorship survived the war and spain

continued to effectively function as an

authoritarian right-wing police state

for decades until his death 30 years

later in 1975

and because of that francoise era spain

remained a sort of international pariah

state that was relatively isolated for a

long time spain didn't join the united

nations until 1955 and didn't join the

european economic community the

precursor of the european union until

1986 decades after it was initially

formed independent political parties and

trade unions within the country during

the dictatorship were banned and the

country initially pursued an economic

policy of otarchi aiming to become

completely self-reliant in the aftermath

of the wide-scale destruction from the

civil war spain's economy remained

stagnant for decades this situation

generated a big exodus from spain of

people who came into conflict with the

regime or who were experiencing economic

hardships and as a result spain

experienced decades of net emigration

out of the country during the post-war

era but the real plummeting of the rural

countryside began in 1959 after franco

introduced the plan establishacion these

were free market and industrial reforms

that completely transformed the

previously archaic and stagnant spanish

economy almost overnight huge foreign

investment came in and industrial areas

around the basque country the northern

coast barcelona and madrid exploded with

development jobs and opportunities that

attracted millions of eager young

spaniards from across the countryside

which gradually fell behind and became

neglected to put the sheer pace of

industrialization into context in 1946

just after world war ii the entire

country of spain had only 72 000 private

cars just 20 years later in 1966 there

were well over a million cars within the

country spain suddenly became the second

fastest growing economy in the entire

world during the 1960s lagging only

behind japan following franco's death in

the end of authoritarianism in 1975 many

of those large numbers of emigres

returned back to spain and mostly

settled in the newly industrialized

areas of the coast through madrid

regardless of wherever they initially

had come from and over the past 30 years

since the early 1990s spain has

experienced massive large-scale

immigration from abroad for pretty much

the first time ever in its history as of

today more than 15

of the spanish population were born

abroad the majority of whom were even

born outside of europe largely from

spain's own former colonies across latin

america this makes spain the 4th most

immigrated 2 country in europe and the

10th most in the world and again the

vast majority of them have settled

within the limited industrialized areas

where there is the most opportunity for

these reasons across the entire 20th

century from 1900 to 2000 spain's

population in total roughly doubled

despite 11 of spain's mostly rural 50

provinces seeing an absolute decline in

their overall populations and in recent

times spain's population is hardly

growing at all over the last decade

between 2011 and 2021 the population of

the country only grew by 0.12 percent

the lowest decade of growth on record

for spain since record-keeping began

between 1833 and 1846.

much of that is due to spain's

incredibly low fertility rate which many

demographers blame on spain's

substantial lack of any serious family

support policy of all the countries of

western europe spain spends the least

amount on family support limited to only

0.5

of gdp to put that into perspective a

spanish family would need to have 57

children just in order to experience the

same level of financial support that a

family with only three children would

receive in luxembourg these are all of

the factors that have contributed to the

long hollowing out of the rural part of

spain over decades like the province of

turuel a large amount of which is within

the aforementioned seranya cult america

just look at this chart of tyrul's

population over time which remained

fairly static until right here between

1960 and 1970 which was precisely when

franco's industrialization program first

took off now turewell has only half the

amount of people that it had a century

ago as tens of thousands emigrated away

for better opportunities leaving behind

their tiny villages where the living

conditions were often difficult with

cold winters high up in the mountains

and only very basic amenities and

infrastructure and that lack of

investment into infrastructure here

continues forty percent of the small

population that remains in turial

continues to lack any kind of internet

broadband coverage and the province only

has a single ultra slow train that

travels at just 30 kilometers an hour

through it which became a bit of a meme

on spanish social media after this video

showed even a tractor overtaking it and

this is all a very far cry from the more

developed parts of spain like madrid

widely regarded as a major tech hub for

the entire european continent with

high-speed rail lines traveling 10 times

faster than the slow moving train

through turruel the lack of investment

in infrastructure in these kinds of

rural communities continues to make them

less attractive places to live in and as

they become less attractive less people

live there and more move away and the

even less attractive they become for

investment it's all just a pretty

vicious cycle and the spanish state has

seemingly done very little to ever

reverse the overall trend over the

decades and thus this is how we've come

to a point now where 90

of spain's population lives within just

30 percent of the land while the

remaining scattered few of the 10

percent live within 70 of the land and

the only way that spain can fix the

problem in the future is inevitably

going to be through increasing

investments into developing the region

to becoming actually attractive to live

there once again

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