Three new towns created in Spain last year while depopulation continues

THREE new towns were created in Spain last year while the country’s rural areas continue to be dogged by depopulation, official figures show.

The three new towns in Spain are Cordoba Province’s Fuente Carreteros and La Guijarrosa and El Palmar de Troya, in Sevilla Province.

The new towns, which were created after separating from existing urban centres, come as the number of people living in small rural towns continues to decline.

Meritxell Batet, Spain’s Minister of Territorial Planning, said previously that depopulation was the “biggest challenge” currently facing the country.

Figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show 2,627 out of the 8,124 towns and cities in Spain contain between 101 and 500 inhabitants.

A total of 1,360 towns are home to less than 101 residents, up from 1,319 at the start of 2018 according to the INE. The equivalent figure was 1,036 ten years ago.

There are six cities in Spain home to more than 500,000 people. These are Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Sevilla, Valencia and Zaragoza.