Depopulation Means Land Abandonment?: The Controversial Case of the Municipality of Navezuelas (Cáceres, Spain)

Abstract

Navezuelas is a good example of the rural area from Inner Spain that is experiencing serious problems of depopulation (862 inhabitants in 1990 vs. 637 inhabitants in 2019) although its land surface covered by fruit trees has increased twofold since the year 2000 (from 475 ha to 886 ha). So, the authors have analyzed data from Corine Land Cover (CLC) and Official Agrarian Censuses and interviewed key agents to understand what is behind this “illogical” cause-effect relationship. The results have shown a reduction in the number of farms below 20 ha in size. Also, the number of farmers has been drastically reduced, particularly in the intervals under 34 years old and between 35 and 54. Finally, the amount of hectares utilized for agriculture has increased both by property as land tenure and by share-cropping. Some of the possible reasons for these figures given by the experts have been the mechanization within the farms and a good tendency in the price of chestnuts since it is the main fruit collected in the municipality.