” It’s now or never ! », resounded the voice in the megaphone planted on the roof of the car of the political party “Soria ¡Ya! “. She rolls through the desert streets of Villar del Rio, a small village in the province of Soria, less than three hours from the Madrid capital. Forty people live there year-round. We are in the area called “Empty Spain”, also nicknamed “Spanish Lapland”. It covers part of Castile-and-León and two other regions, Aragon and Castile-La Mancha, an area with a low population density – less than 12 inhabitants per square kilometer –, victim in particular of the rural exodus.
” Fed up “
The inhabitants, tired of not being heard while their countryside is inexorably empty, have taken the plunge and embarked on politics. “It is the fed up that pushed us to participate in the elections because we no longer believe in the promises of the traditional parties”, launches Angel Cena, the head of the list of Soria ¡ Ya! for the regional elections in Castile and León this Sunday, February 13. This movement has existed for twenty years and has been mobilizing to improve roads and services in the province of Soria.
→ REPORT. The fed up of the forgotten of empty Spain
The process took time. In March 2019, almost 100,000 people demonstrated their anger in Madrid. These “forgotten” came from all over Spain. Nieves, 65, still remembers: “Do you realize, we were already demonstrating to demand the reopening of our pharmacy, which had been closed for four years. »
Today, the observation is bitter. The faded white facade of the pharmacy and its banner claiming “a pharmacy now” it made me sad. “However, we have candidates for its takeover, but the region is dragging its feet to give its authorization on the pretext that we are not enough inhabitants. And yet we should have the same rights as the rest of the population,” se fâche Nieves.
Very real issues
The citizens’ movement “Empty Spain” has recently moved into high gear. In 2020, several platforms on Spanish territory signed a unitary manifesto and last September launched a political force, without a specific leader, Espana vaciada (emptied Spain), with the participation of 160 collectives from around thirty provinces. To date, only the “Teruel exists” party from the Aragon region has managed in 2019 to obtain a seat in the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament.
Before granting its support to the socialist Pedro Sanchez for the investiture, this party signed a pact for repopulation and regional rebalancing. On the program: financing of infrastructures and installation of certain public organizations on the territory.
Large projects but on the spot, the inhabitants evoke very concrete problems. In Villar del Rio, five minutes by car, the doctor only comes once a week and on request. No school either, you have to go to another village regarding fifteen minutes away and, for those over 10 years old, head for Soria, the provincial capital regarding fifty kilometers away.
“If I was young, I would leave here”
The candidate Angel Cena travels daily this province which he knows well, exchanges with the inhabitants, far from the usual political meetings. “We must first take care of basic services, bring optical fiber which is as important as water and light, then think regarding creating an activity in addition to livestock and agriculture, with small product processing companies. It won’t be quick or easy. »
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Raul, 65, farmer and rancher, arrives at the meeting in Soria ¡Ya! in the town hall square. The promises, he no longer believes too much. “Nobody remembers us, when the old people die, the children stop coming. We’re going to end up not even having old people anymore. If I was young, I would leave here. »
So did his son, Sergio, in his twenties. Present that evening, he works in the neighboring region, an hour away by car. “Living in Villar de Rio is very complicated, we don’t have basic services. How to study or telecommute with an Internet that does not work well? » Demonstrations are no longer enough, the time for politics has come.
