Abstract
Rural depopulation in advanced economies has negative economic consequences for local communities and requires effective policies at different spatio-temporal and governance scales. Since the 1980s, an economic subsidy (Rural Employment Plan, PER-PFEA) was implemented at municipality scale in two autonomous communities of Spain (Andalusia and Extremadura) with the aim at improving the economic performances and counteracting depopulation. Within this national plan, each municipality requests and receives funds for improving the labour conditions of temporary agricultural workers. Long-term implementation of the PER-PFEA programme allows assessment of the effectiveness of this subsidy scheme in containing depopulation. The present study classifies municipalities in the two Spanish regions according to their demographic dynamics over a decade (2002 − 2012) and their capacity to attract public funds from the plan. A threshold value based on logistic probabilities was estimated to assess its success in counteracting depopulation. Results identified four municipal profiles. On the one hand, subsidy application reduced depopulation probability in 23.3% and 8.4% of Andalusia and Extremadura municipalities, respectively. On the other hand, given the low level of requested funds, the programme did not reduce depopulation in 26.3% and 61.8% of Andalusia and Extremadura municipalities with a stagnant economy based on silviculture and livestock. While requesting few funds, 36.9% and 16.7% of municipalities exhibited population growth and a dynamic economic base. Finally, despite a large provision of funds, the subsidy seemed to have not reduced depopulation probability in 13.5% and 13.1% of municipalities, representing the most problematic contexts because of population shrinkage and economic backwardness. The study finally discusses some proposals for future improvements of the subsidy provision system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Biasi, R., Brunori, E., Smiraglia, D., Salvati, L.: Linking traditional tree-crop landscapes and agro-biodiversity in Central Italy using a database of typical and traditional products: A multiple risk assessment through a data mining analysis. Biodivers. Conserv. 24(12), 3009–3031 (2015)
Cañete, J.A., Navarro, F., Cejudo, E.: Territorially unequal rural development: the cases of the LEADER initiative and the PRODER programme in Andalusia (Spain). Eur. Plan. Stud. 26, 726–744 (2018)
Cecchini, M., Zambon, I., Pontrandolfi, A., Turco, R., Colantoni, A., Mavrakis, A.: and Salvati L. Urban sprawl and the ‘olive’landscape: Sustainable land management for ‘crisis’ cities. GeoJournal 84(1): 237–255. (2019)
Cejudo García, E., Maroto Martos, J.C., Navarro Valverde, F.: El Subsidio de Desempleo Agrario en Andalucía: de limosna de desmovilización campesina a ayuda territorial necesaria. In: Camacho Ballesta JA and Jiménez Olivencia Y (Eds.). Desarrollo regional sostenible en tiempos de crisis. Vol. 2, cap. 39, 709 – 738. Granada: Universidad de Granada. (2013)
Cejudo García, E., Navarro Valverde, F.A., Maroto Martos, J.C.: Perceptores del Subsidio de Desempleo Agrario y de la Renta Agraria en el sur de España: evolución, diferencias territoriales y estructura por edad y sexo. Ager J. Depopulation Rural Dev. Stud. 20, 33–72 (2016a)
Cejudo García, E., Navarro Valverde, F.A., Cañete Pérez, J.A.: Evolución y distribución territorial de los trabajadores eventuales agrarios subsidiados en Andalucía. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles. 72, 117–147 (2016b)
Cuadrado-Ciuraneta, S., Durà-Guimerà, A., Salvati, L.: Not only tourism: unravelling suburbanization, second-home expansion and “rural” sprawl in Catalonia, Spain. Urban Geogr. 38, 66–89 (2017)
Delfanti, L., Colantoni, A., Recanatesi, F., Bencardino, M., Sateriano, A., Zambon, I., Salvati, L.: Solar plants, environmental degradation and local socioeconomic contexts: A case study in a Mediterranean country. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 61, 88–93 (2016)
Evolución del Programa de Fomento de Empleo Agrario (PFEA 2002 – 2004). Monografía 5. Sevilla Diputación de Sevilla, Siglo, X.X.I.: S.A. Available at: (2004). http://www.prodetur.es/prodetur/AlfrescoFileTransferServlet?action=download&ref=8b231b71-fcfb-47ba-8e54-784925cfe4db
Duvernoy, I., Zambon, I., Sateriano, A., Salvati, L.: Pictures from the other side of the fringe: Urban growth and peri-urban agriculture in a post-industrial city (Toulouse, France). J. Rural Stud. 57, 25–35 (2018)
El Economista.es Andalucía y Extremadura copan el 86.5% de los fondos AEPSA para 2008. Available at: (2008). https://www.eleconomista/empresas-finanzas/noticias/359663/02/08/Andalucia-y-Extremadura-copan-el-865-de-los-fondos-AEPSA-para-2008.html
El País: Polémica sobre los campesinos que cobran el PER. Available at: (2011a). https://elpais.com/politica/2011/10/08/actualidad/1318090413_762077.html
El País: 426 euros mensuales y las claves del PER. Available at: (2011b). https://elpais.com/politica/2011/10/10/actualidad/1318278249_474833.html
El Periódico de Extremadura El Gobierno destina 32.6 millones en fondos AEPSA. Available at: (2004). https://www.elperiodicoextremadura.com/noticias/extremadura/gobierno-destina-32-6-millones-fondos-aepsa_113655.html
Elshof, H.: Local population decline in rural North-Netherlands. University of Groningen, Groningen (2017)
ESPON: Fighting rural depopulation in Southern Europe. European Union and the European Regional Development Fund. Available at: (2018). https://www.espon.eu/sites/default/files/attachments/af-espon_spain_02052018-en.pdf
European Commission: Local population decline in rural North-Netherlands. Final Report. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, European Communities (2008)
European Commission: The common agricultural policy at a glance. Available at: (2019a). https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cap-glance_en#evaluationofthecap
European Commission: Less favoured areas scheme. Available at: (2019b). https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rural-development-previous/2007-2013/less-favoured-areas-scheme_en
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND): Unemployment protection for casual agricultural workers under debate. Available at: (1999). https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/fr/publications/article/1999/unemployment-protection-for-casual-agricultural-workers-under-debate
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): The role of agriculture and rural development in revitalizing abandoned/depopulated areas. Regional Office for Europe. Available at: (2006). http://www.fao.org/tempref/GI/Reserved/FTP_FaoSeur/New%20REU/resource/more/docs/Abandoned_en.pdf
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Annual population. Consulted March 2019: (2019). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/OA
Freshwater, D. The regional hierarchy and differences in rural-urban relations. OECD 9th Rural Development Policy Conference, Bologna, Italy. Available at: (2013). http://www.oecd.org/cfe/regional-policy/Session%20II%20presentations.pdf
Instituto Nacional de Estadística: Estadísticas territoriales. Available at: (2019). http://www.ine.es
Izcara Palacios, S.P.: Infraclases rurales: procesos emergentes de exclusión social en España. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas. 97, 127–154 (2002)
Junta de Andalucía: Caracterización agraria comarcas [Diversas comarcas]. Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Desarrollo Rural, Sevilla (2014)
Karamesouti, M., Detsis, V., Kounalaki, A., Vasiliou, P., Salvati, L., Kosmas, C.: Land-use and land degradation processes affecting soil resources: Evidence from a traditional Mediterranean cropland (Greece). Catena. 132, 45–55 (2015)
Karcagi-Kováts, A., Katona-Kovács, J.: Factors of population decline in rural areas and answers given in EU member states’ strategies. Stud. Agricultural Econ. 114, 49–56 (2012)
Keenleyside, C., Tucker, G.M.: Farmland Abandonment in the EU: an Assessment of Trends and Prospects. Report prepared for WWF. Institute for European Environmental Policy, London (2010)
Kleinbaum, D.G.: Logistic regression. Springer, New York (1994)
Kosmas, C., Karamesouti, M., Kounalaki, K., Detsis, V., Vassiliou, P., Salvati, L.: Land degradation and long-term changes in agro-pastoral systems: An empirical analysis of ecological resilience in Asteroussia-Crete (Greece). Catena. 147, 196–204 (2016)
Larsson, P. Rural depopulation policies in Sweden. What can rural municipalities do to reverse a population decline? Master’s Degree. Lund University, Sweden. Available at: (2014). https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/search/publication/4586871
Li, Y., Westlund, H., Liu, Y.: Why some rural areas decline while some others not: an overview of rural evolution in the world. J. Rural Stud. 68, 135–143 (2019)
Liu, Y., Li, Y.: Revitalize the world’s countryside. Nature. 548, 275–277 (2017)
McMillan, R.: The shrinkage pathway: managing regional depopulation. In: Spoonley, P. (ed.) Rebooting the regions: why low or zero growth needn’t mean the end of prosperity. Massey University Press, Auckland (2016)
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación (MAPA): Comarcas Agrarias. Available at: (2007). https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/cartografia-y-sig/ide/descargas/agricultura/default.aspx
Mondéjar, J., Mondéjar, J.A., Monsalve, F., Vargas, M.: Una propuesta de evaluación del impacto de los programas de desarrollo rural LEADER y PRODER. Ager J. Depopulation Rural Dev. Stud. 6, 161–180 (2007)
Morelli, V.G., Rontos, K., Salvati, L.: Between suburbanisation and re-urbanisation: Revisiting the urban life cycle in a Mediterranean compact city. Urban Res. Pract. 7, 74–88 (2014)
Munafò, M., Salvati, L., Zitti, M.: Estimating soil sealing rate at national level—Italy as a case study. Ecol. Ind. 26, 137–140 (2013)
Navarro, F., Labianca, M., Cejudo, E., de Rubertis, S., Salento, A., Maroto, J.C., Belliggiano, A. Interpretations of innovation in rural development. The cases of LEADER projects in Lecce (Italy) and Granada (Spain) in 2007 – 2013 period. European Countryside 10: 107 – 126. (2018)
Ohrens, O., Treves, A., Bonacic, C.: Relationship between rural depopulation and puma-human conflict in the high Andes of Chile. Environ. Conserv. 43, 24–33 (2016)
Perrin, C., Nougarèdes, B., Sini, L., Branduini, P., Salvati, L.: Governance changes in peri-urban farmland protection following decentralisation: A comparison between Montpellier (France) and Rome (Italy). Land. Use Policy. 70, 535–546 (2018)
Pili, S., Grigoriadis, E., Carlucci, M., Clemente, M., Salvati, L.: Towards sustainable growth? A multi-criteria assessment of (changing) urban forms. Ecol. Ind. 76, 71–80 (2017)
Pinilla, V., Sáez, L.A.: Rural depopulation in Spain: genesis of a problem and innovative policies. Zaragoza (2017). Informes CEDDAR 2017-2
Pires de Almeida, M.A.: Territorial inequalities: depopulation and local development policies in the Portuguese rural world. Áger. J. Depopulation Rural Dev. Stud. 22, 61–87 (2016)
Recanatesi, F., Clemente, M., Grigoriadis, E., Ranalli, F., Zitti, M., Salvati, L.: A fifty-year sustainability assessment of Italian agro-forest districts. Sustainability. 8(1), 32 (2015)
Reynaud, C., Miccoli, S., Benassi, F., Naccarato, A., Salvati, L.: Unravelling a demographic ‘Mosaic’: Spatial patterns and contextual factors of depopulation in Italian Municipalities, 1981–2011. Ecol. Ind. 115, 106356 (2020)
Rivas-Martínez, S., Asensi, A., Díez-Garretas, B., Molero, J., Valle, F.: Biogeographical synthesis of Andalusia (southern Spain). J. Biogeogr. 24, 915–928 (1997)
Salvati, L., Serra, P.: Estimating rapidity of change in complex urban systems: A multidimensional, local-scale approach. Geographical Anal. 48, 132–156 (2016)
Salvati, L., Zitti, M.: Land degradation in the Mediterranean basin: linking bio-physical and economic factors into an ecological perspective. Biota. 5, 67–77 (2005)
Sánchez, B.: Estudio del impacto del subsidio agrario sobre la evolución de la población en Extremadura a través de la técnica de diferencias en diferencias. International Meeting on Regional Science: The future of the cohesion policy. Seventh Workshop APDR, Badajoz (2010)
Sánchez, B. Evolución de la población de los municipios de Extremadura: Aplicaciones paramétricas y semiparamétricas. PhD Thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. (2011)
Schubert, H., Caballero Calvo, A., Rauchecker, M., Rojas-Zamora, O., Brokamp, G., Schütt, B.: Assessment of land cover changes in the Hinterland of Barranquilla (Colombia) using Landsat imagery and logistic regression. Land. 7, 152 (2018). DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/land7040152
Serra, P., Saurí, D., Salvati, L.: Peri-urban agriculture in Barcelona: outlining landscape dynamics vis à vis socio-environmental functions. Landsc. Res. 43, 613–631 (2017)
Serra, P., Vera, A., Tulla, A.F., Salvati, L.: Beyond urban–rural dichotomy: exploring socioeconomic and land-use processes of change in Spain (1991–2011). Appl. Geogr. 55, 71–81 (2014)
Serra, P., Pons, X., Saurí, D.: Land-cover and land-use change in a Mediterranean landscape: a spatial analysis of driving forces integrating biophysical and human factors. Appl. Geogr. 28, 189–209 (2008)
Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal (SEPE): Prestaciones por desempleo asistenciales para trabajadores eventuales agrarios de Andalucía y Extremadura. Subsidio agrario. Renta agraria. Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, Madrid (2015)
Servicio Público de Empleo Estatal (SEPE): Prestaciones por desempleo. Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo, Migraciones y Seguridad Social (2018)
Smiraglia, D., Ceccarelli, T., Bajocco, S., Salvati, L., Perini, L.: Linking trajectories of land change, land degradation processes and ecosystem services. Environ. Res. 147, 590–600 (2016)
Söderberg, E. Swedish rural depopulation: how do rural municipalities counteract depopulation and stagnation? Master’s thesis. Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Upsala. (2015)
Stoate, C., Báldi, A., Beja, P., Boatman, N.D., Herzon, I., van Doorn, A., de Snoo, G.R., Rakosy, L., Ramwell, C.: Ecological impacts of early 21st century agricultural change in Europe: a review. J. Environ. Manage. 91, 22–46 (2009)
Terluin, I.J., Godeschalk, F.E., von Meyer, H., Post, J.H., Strijker, D.: Agricultural income in less favoured areas of the EC: a regional approach. J. Rural Stud. 11, 217–228 (1995)
Terres, J.M., Scacchiafichi, L.N., Wania, A., Ambar, M., Anguiano, E., Buckwell, A., Coppola, A., Gocht, A., Källström, H.N., Pointereau, P., Strijker, D., Visek, L., Vranken, L., Zobena, A.: Farmland abandonment in Europe: identification of drivers and indicators, and development of a composite indicator of risk. Land. Use Policy. 49, 20–34 (2015)
The European Network for Rural Development: 2014 – 2020 Rural Development Programme: key facts and figures. Spain – Andalucía. Available at: (2016). http://enrd.ec.europa.eu
Zambon, I., Serra, P., Sauri, D., Carlucci, M., Salvati, L.: Beyond the ‘Mediterranean city’: Socioeconomic disparities and urban sprawl in three Southern European cities. Geogr. Annaler: Ser. B Hum. Geogr. 99, 319–337 (2017)
Zitti, M., Ferrara, C., Perini, L., Carlucci, M., Salvati, L.: Long-term urban growth and land use efficiency in Southern Europe: Implications for sustainable land management. Sustainability. 7, 3359–3385 (2015)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Serra, P., Pallares-Barbera, M. & Salvati, L. Can a long-term economic subsidy counteract rural depopulation? An empirical analysis from two spanish regions. Qual Quant 57, 3065–3084 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01505-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01505-7