Women and depopulation in rural areas of Castilla y León

Abstract

The constant process of depopulation, which are suffering a great number of villages of Castilla y León, primarily caused by the continuous transfer of labour force from agriculture activities to the industrial and service sectors of urban areas, is provoking the progressive demographic and economic decadence of rural areas. In this context, women are played a key role in the process of rural exodus, especially in the case of young women. This project attempts to determine to which extend women have been and continue to be the protagonist of the social and economic transformations which have affected rural areas through the last decades. To this aim, it will undertake an analysis by sex of different demographic variables at municipal level, which will show women’s spatial situation, according to a rural criterion. The specific focus of this study will be the territory of the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León.