Today, the Diputacion de Granada presented in Purullena Granada’s population. The framework document, “Provincial Strategy for the Demographic Challenge and Depopulation”, will be used to guide the actions the institution and the town councils will take over the next ten year in order to reverse the depopulation process.
Jose Entrena was accompanied by Pedro Fernandez Penalver (Government Delegate in Andalusia), Francisco Garcia (Government subdelegate to Granada, Inmaculada López Calahorro) and Jose Luis Martinez, Purullena’s mayor. Purullena has hosted the act. This municipality has received over 100 mayors and mayors from the province. The General Director of Policies against depopulation at the Ministry for the Ecological Transition Juana Lopez Pagan and the General Director of Regional and Urban Policy at the European Commission Valentina Corsetti also participated electronically.
Entrena stated that the deployment strategy will be implemented through biannual action plan that will address the 7 challenges: From the promotion of a new institution governance to the empowerment and connection of rural women with the territory; through the transformation of production, the attraction of new residents or mobility, connectivity, and the existence public services required to create a rural life of quality.
These 22 lines of work will help to address all these issues and promote 128 actions. A biannual Action Plan will be included in the strategy, which will outline the actions that must be taken to address the challenges. The 2022-2023 biennial action plan is the first.
The president stated that “Granada is populated” relies on three fundamental pillars: the young population, women and new residents. He stated that rural women are the key to rural innovation and entrepreneurship. Young talent, however, will be a transformative agent for traditional sectors through creativity and innovation. The Provincial Council designed a shock plan worth more than one million euro to attract new settlers. It requested co-finance from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
Entrena stated that the province’s population structure is highly polarized. 43 percent of its population is concentrated in 2% of its territory. Entrena spoke about this. The councils can’t ignore the fact that more than half the municipalities in the province have poor global records. The provincial institution has been working on this project “since the beginning” of its mandate.
The president has stated that depopulation has “finally has relevance and presence on Spanish political agenda”. He also said that the strategy is realistic but also ambitious. He added that the greatest challenge for the Diputacion is to reverse depopulation and that it has “designed this roadmap” in which the participation of the municipalities is “fundamental”. The coordinated process will see the mayors receiving and assessing the document. They can then make their contributions. Once the text has been approved by all municipalities, the provincial institution will convene the Provincial Table for the Demographic Challenge, depopulation, and all the other public and private institutions in the province to create a great provincial agreement.
8 billion
Andalusia’s Government Delegate stated that depopulation must be dealt with by all governments “from unity, in coordination and collaboration.” He also mentioned that the Government of Spain has the first designated ministry for the demographic problem, that the Recovery Plan contains measures to combat depopulation, and that the first National Plan for the Demographic Challenge was created. It includes 130 measures that are endowed with 10,000,000,000 euros. These measures have already been deployed. He announced that some 8,000 million euro will be invested by the end of the year.
Pedro Fernandez assured that all resources available to rural municipalities, businesses, and individuals through various calls will be used to encourage the deployment of broadband and the digitization or companies.
