The creation of the political movement Espana vaciada (“emptied Spain” in French) could upset the Spanish political panorama. Made up of 180 associations, this “electoral grouping” intends to enter Parliament in 2023 and above all to make known a rural reality, ignored by large cities and their leaders.
In Robledillo de Gata, time seems to stand still. Over the past 30 years, the inhabitants have abandoned this pretty village in Extremadura. It must be said that it is more than an hour from the first health center, 20 minutes from a school and the internet is slow. Here, the average age is 60 years old.
For Professor Fernando, a 47-year-old forest engineer and activist in a local association, the case of Robledillo is a wonderful illustration of the issue defended on the citizen platform Espana vaciada. “ Robledillo is a village that still has about fifty inhabitants and a few shops, but without wanting to offend anyone, we can say that it is already a village of zombies. Today, we pay for the broken pots of a territorial model that exclusively favored the cities, without worrying about maintaining essential services in the villages. »
A political question
The desertification of the Spanish rural territory, where certain regions have a density of inhabitants per square meter close to that of Siberia, has become a political issue. The Teruel Existe association was the first in 2019 to be constituted as a political party in Aragon. Since then, 180 other associations from the countryside have joined the Espana Vaciada platform, which offers 110 concrete measures to repopulate the countryside.
For José Antonio, a member of Espana Vaciada, the survival of the countryside depends on these concrete measures: ” The idea is to promote repopulation in a productive way, not by stimulating the service sector or tourism, but by recovering livestock, agriculture and local markets. We need to get back to the economy we had in the 1980s, local production with local sale and consumption. »
In the small central square of the village of Robledillo, Fernando throws a sorry look at this place which, until recently, hosted a weekly market, a restaurant and a social club that gave life.
This movement of rural revolt which could result in a postponement of votes to the citizens’ platform Espana Vaciada in the next legislative elections has awakened the traditional parties from their stupor. The first electoral meeting of Espana Vaciada will take place on February 13 in the regional elections of Castile and León where the formation Teruel Existe will have to give a boost to the movement at national level.