Why So Few People Live In This HUGE Area In The Middle Of Spain

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Spain is the fourth largest country in the European Union by population with more than 48 million people. Despite this, the vast majority of these people live either within the Madrid metropolitan area or within cities on the coast. This leaves a rather large ring in the middle of Spain with very few people relative to its size. So why does Spain have this "empty ring" at all?
Rome map by Cristiano64 - Lavoro proprio, self-made, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Dehesa image by Ardo Beltz - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Stock footage is acquired from www.storyblocks.com.
Animation support provided by DH Designs (needahittman.com)

[@-Ruben]

As someone who lives in Extremadura (a part of the ring), I am happy not to have too many people here. I don't dislike people, but having space to walk, not having too many cars on the roads and having space is very relaxing. I haven't stayed for too long in crowded places, but the ones that were, it was too much for me 😅

[@Poppy323F]

As someone who lives in the southeast of Spain around Alicante, one of the most populous regions in terms of density, even there it feels empty in most places that are vaguely rural, a stark contrast to much of the rest of Europe.

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

My condolences.

[@avilacanario]

What do you have on Portugal?

[@aleografics311]

​@@avilacanario?

[@Drekt666]

It's just a lot of farm land.

[@Peter_Schiavo]

@@avilacanario The beaches are great. The beer is cheap. We lived in Oliva for a year and the biggest downside is the obnoxious tourists in the Summer months from northern Europe.

[@fjp3305]

The Ebro river is not born in Aragón, is born in Cantabria.

[@devanman7920]

Travelled around Spain for a month before. Such an incredible place the country has a bit of everything.

[@mardiffv.8775]

Indeed Sir, Spain has a bit of everything. That is why the movie "Patton" was shot in Spain; it has both desert > North African desert and forest hills > the Ardennes, Belgium.

[@metacosmos]

yes a bit of good things and a lot of bad things

[@devanman7920]

@@metacosmos no country's perfect. It has problems but everywhere does

[@metacosmos]

most ultra nationalistic believe that their country is perfect.@@devanman7920

[@salozinp]

The good thing about the less populated central area is that the little human pressure keeps the natural environment in a magnificent state. Forests, meadows, rivers, reservoirs and the greatest European diversity in flora and fauna. Spain is a country with multiple faces, one great history, a very powerful language, and one of the most strategic European countries, and one of the main members of NATO.

[@johndodd7870]

Every time you do a "Why does nobody live here" video, the answer is always "No water, rocky soil, and cold winters." After you covered those factors for Spain, I wasn't ready for the twist ending!

[@NigelDMarvin]

I have studied in Spain, specifically in Valladolid, a city of around 300,000 people. The city is in the empty, uh, doughnut(?), circle(?), ring(?) of Spain. And when I travelled to and from Madrid as well as other towns and cities in Spain, I was surprised by the emptiness of some parts of the country.

[@Joshua-fi4ji]

My other half is from Málaga and I've been around Spain a lot. It always surprises me how empty it is even down there compared to England. We don't have room to breath in England these days.

[@ebonytv3414]

England has plenty of space to breath,if you live in a city it’s busy outside of the he city’s have plenty of open space.

[@ebonytv3414]

@@Joshua-fi4ji So, how much of England is built on? 🏠 The answer is just over 10%. But rather than focusing solely on the land that is built on, let's take a moment to appreciate the untapped potential and hidden beauty of the land that remains undeveloped.

[@Joshua-fi4ji]

@@ebonytv3414 Most land is owned and used for something, be it housing or farms, especially down south and around the coasts. It's not like France, Spain or much of Scotland where you have huge areas of undeveloped land. Saying there's no space to breath is an exaggeration, but the population density the south of England is so much higher.

[@ebonytv3414]

@@Joshua-fi4ji that was from British statistics not made up by me. Unlike your Exaggeration.

[@DonPedroman]

I live in Galicia, the part of the country where settlements are more spread out, when I went down to Castilla y León i felt an incredible contrast with the very concentrated towns surrounded by massive wheat fields

[@robthetraveler1099]

You got a lot of this video right, but I feel like you overstated the extent to which the Meseta Central is arid/semi-arid and not very suited for agriculture. They certainly grow lots of grapes, wheat, and olives on the Meseta. Also, I don't know where the footage from 5:08-5:20 (repeats later in the video) is from, but it's not really the best representation of the Meseta Central... should be flatter/more gently rolling, and redder/browner, with some buttes off in the distance or something. Also a couple of pronunciation notes, the "h" in Spanish is always silent, so "Dehesa" would be "day-AYsa," and "Malaga" at 9:46 should be "MALL-ah-gah." Only a double L becomes a y sound, not a single L.

[@Kan3sky]

Yo soy de una de esas zonas, de Castilla La Mancha en concreto. La verdad es que esta situación, inedita en el resto de Europa, se debe a una combinación de abandono político, falta de industrialización e industrialización fuerte y rápida de la agricultura. La red de transporte y logística es buena, por lo menos en los últimos 25 años. Buen trabajo!

[@chipaguasustudios]

Yo creo que si eligen una de esas zonas despobladas y la hacen una "zona económica especial" con bajos impuestos como del 10% máximo o algo así rápidamente se van a poblar e industrializar, no se porque su gobierno no lo hace xd

[@Kan3sky]

@@chipaguasustudios porque gobierna el PSOE, y a esos les gusta vivir del clientelismo, no de una economía libre y dinámica.

[@davidcorabar]

Claro, como Castilla y León, que lleva el PP 40 años seguidos y es la zona de España con mayor despoblación

[@danporti3942]

@@Kan3sky Como te han respondido, esto es independiente del partido que gobierne, Castilla y Leon es del PP de siempre y está despobladísima. Tiene que ver simplemente con practicidad, estoy a medio camino entre Extremadura y Castilla-La Mancha y te aseguro que el problema principal es simplemente que Madrid está relativamente cerca, o se dan incentivos a las empresas para establecerse en estas zonas o es imposible que se alejen de Madrid para irse a un sitio desde el que van a tener que viajar y transportar a Madrid constantemente. Ha habido gobiernos de PP, de PSOE y todo lo que tú quieras, esto se tiene que organizar a nivel estatal, y eso implicaría "quitarle" empresas a Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Bilbao, etc, a largo plazo a la gente le harías un favor, a corto plazo implica más paro, más desplazamiento y relativo empobrecimiento de las grandes ciudades, cosa que no están dispuestos a hacer debido a que enfadar a corto plazo a gran parte de la población de zonas que representan el 80% del censo es simplemente políticamente suicida, y quien lo haga está condenado a perder las siguientes elecciones y además que el que venga detrás lo revierta para venir como "salvador" y asegurarse votos. Este tipo de planificaciones en un sistema democrático son simplemente inviables, por eso Franco pudo hacerlo, o los reyes absolutistas pudieron, pero es imposible a día de hoy. China lo hace, la URSS o Yugoslavia lo hizo, los países árabes lo hacen, Europa simplemente sólo lo haría si quien maneja el cotarro está dispuesto a hacerlo, y ahora mismo no les interesa.

[@investigating.in.freedom38]

En tiempo de Cervantes se la conocía como Castilla la vacía. En el Quijote expone una vacía, refiriendo a Felipe II la característica del territorio, en contraste con la Cataluña que le muestra en la segunda parte.

[@jabato9779]

I like the geographical region of Celtiberia (not a political region). It is the most scarcely populated area in the ring, but full of nature, canyons, castles, medieval villages and good food. I drive through empty roads not seeing a car for quite long periods of time, but the roads are quite good so I enjoy the isolation of these beautiful undisturbed landscapes. I love it, no tourists (maybe a bunch of advance Spanish tourists who know the same secret places). I have criss-crossed much of it but still I have many unchecked in my To-visit list. Yes, I have a list and it is still evolving as I find more and more places for different sources (you won't find them in the main general touristic guides).

[@davea6314]

I'm an admirer of the amazing Mondragon workers' cooperative in Basque county. It is the largest successful workers' cooperative in the world! -Dave from Chicago, USA

[@Spartakist-ch4nb]

It still exploits workers in the rhird world

[@davea6314]

@@Spartakist-ch4nb Not Mondragon.

[@lmarts]

Some people won't like reading Mondragón and will tell you its real name is in fact Arrasate (Basque name) 😉

[@davea6314]

@@lmarts Mondragon is its international name just as that amazing great workers' coop knows that English is the dominant global lingua franca. There are many people like me here in the USA that immediately think of the Mondragon workers cooperative when anyone mentions Basque country. The people of Basque country should be proud of Mondragon.

[@Alejojojo6]

@@lmartsThe oficial name of the cooperative is Mondragón, based out of the town of Mondragón which has a basque name Arrasate but does not mean the cooperative is named arrasate which is not.

[@royasturias1784]

-Empty ring -7.7 million people residing within it Make up your mind, for the highlighted blue doughnut around Metro Madrid has 1/6 of the kingdom's population (same number of people as Hong Kong SAR, China). So, most definitely NOT empty!

[@barrylyndon5084]

On the map of the Basque country you have included Navarra, which is another separate Autonomous Community.

[@maikeus3948]

Navarra is also culturally and traditionally Basque.

[@barrylyndon5084]

@@maikeus3948 That has no administrative political relevance. Navarra at least was an independent Kingdom, the Basque Country never was.

[@maikeus3948]

@@barrylyndon5084it’s a huge error to believe that administration is the only valid reality. In fact, it’s not. The history, culture and actual reality of Navarra can NOT be separated from being Basque.

[@barrylyndon5084]

@@maikeus3948 No es motivo para que aparezcan en un mapa como un único territorio administrativo, porque NO LO SON.

[@maikeus3948]

@@barrylyndon5084 léete la transitoria cuarta de la constitución, anda, y luego le cuentas que navarra de vasca no tiene nada.

[@nmgscp]

You should have switched Zaragoza and Huesca in the presentation map. It may be visually more attractive to present Zaragoza as being more empty than Huesca but that's not accurate

[@joehoe222]

Agreed, been there, and Zaragoza is indeed more city like than rural. One of the more interesting places I've been in Europe.

[@javierjimenez3784]

I was about to comment that. The Ebro valley and specifically Zaragoza are une of the few examples of density populated areas in “central” Spain. Zaragoza also received a lot of emigrants during the 20th century as a growing industrial city.

[@stopthenwo1209]

Zaragoza is the fifth most important city in Spain, inaccurate map.

[@zozetamad3022]

There was also significant Spanish emigration to other European countries such as France, Germany, and Switzerland during the Franco period that contributed to population decline especially in Andalusia.

[@plumebrise4801]

Yeah ,today in France there is like 4 Millions French of Spanish Origin (Along with 5,5 Millions of Italian origin and 2 Millions of Portuguese origin)

[@cristoux]

It is false to atribute that to Franco. Most of that emigration ocurred between 1914 and 1936. Then it continued after 1965. And it still continues today, specially after 2011.

[@ditt9094]

​@@cristoux Spaniards abroad is 3%. is literally the lowest in all Europe.

[@ditt9094]

​@@plumebrise48014 millions of Spaniards is literally impossible. there are not even 4 millions of spaniards abroad in all the history of Spain. maybe 4 million in Usa.

[@Cuyi1990]

11:45 the Basque Country isn't that big. You included La Rioja, Navarre and the French Basque Country there.

[@cristoux]

Thanks for pointing out, he took the independentist definition. That is not the official administrative division and people in those regions think of themselves as Spanish.

[@Cuyi1990]

@@cristoux I go to Logroño and Calahorra a lot (cities in La Rioja). People there don't feel Basque. The PP (right-wing) govern La Rioja.

[@cristoux]

@@Cuyi1990 exactly what I meant. I edited for clarity.

[@Alejojojo6]

Yeah that's Euskal Herria which isnt the same as The Basque country comunity proper as Eusk. Herria expands over several autonomous communities and countries (having some parts in France).

[@LearnLaughLiveLearn-Laugh-Live]

Interesting content. Thank you.

[@joaquinboscheseverri9159]

Excuse me, the Basque Country is truly half the size that appears in the video, you have join it with a nearby province wich is not basque

[@punditgi]

Another fascinating video! 🎉😊

[@baseballfan99]

Great video. 😊I crossed it yesterday on the high speed AVE from Seville to Madrid, after a stop in Cordoba, but I was aware of it after watching the Vuelta a Espana on tv over the years.

[@BrianMacrabie-te8ob]

I enjoyed the video I learned alot thanks

[@miliba]

I've taken train rides from Madrid to Toledo and to Segovia. The tra(i)nsition from dense to thin population is very visible there

[@scarletcrusade77]

Can you do more European countries next? France's empty belt perhaps

[@someinteresting]

Could you make a companion piece on Portugal. The situation there is comparable. And if you make a demographic map of the whole peninsula the costal regions would make a ring around the sparsely populated middle.

[@DrizztCoage]

Despite all of this, speaking as someone who works on logistics and the supply chain across Europe (Mostly Imports and Exports from Spain), nowadays most of the areas of this so called "empty Spain" that neighbor the populated areas (See Burgos, Albacete, or Guadalajara, for instance) feature a lot of movement of freights and goods coming from all parts of Europe that ultimately end up distribted to the populated areas. A lot of these "empty" places nowadays serve as big warehouses so to speak, which brings jobs and moneyflow. And of course, you also have farmlands too, being El Éjido at Almería the biggest example. If you ever browse a transport freight market, most of the stuff we Export is around these places. (While Barcelona and Pais Vasco tend to mostly receive Imports, rather) These places might be "empty" in terms of population, but they are the backbone of Spain's economy in a way. A similar thing also happens with the "empty France" that despite being empty, there's a lot of cargo and freights to export/import from there. However I don't see this happen with Germany for instance, the emptiest part of Germany is just empty, so not all empty places are made equal.

[@Finkiu]

Good analysis. But El Ejido is at the coast not in the empty Spain

[@santorini8423]

I very much enjoyed your video Geoff of you probing Spains empty ring.

[@guerreiro943]

I feel like this is more of a good thing rather than a bad thing. It means more space for nature and wild animals to live their lives in peace away from human disturbance. Not everything has to revolve around development and economics. Nature deserves some space too.

[@BN.ja05]

Lots of ecuadorians, colombians, other hispanic-americans and even brazilians and americans migrate to Spain and yet the ring remains underpopulated, that area simply has not much going for it besides agriculture and mining and thus it fails to attract high-skilled migrants, even migrants from Africa, muslim countries and eastern europe avoid that area because commerce and services are located elsewhere.

[@Lucas24997]

Still there there are dynamic towns and cities who attract immigration, but lack of investment tends to make it hard for them to keep going

[@angyliv8040]

We are a country with 48 millions we are not despopulated lol

[@BN.ja05]

@@angyliv8040 La zona de la que se habla en el vídeo sí está poco poblada comparada al resto del país, y a pesar de su extensión territorial, España siempre a estado menos poblada que países aledaños de tamaño similar, como Francia, y después de la revolución industrial la diferencia demográfica con otros países de Europa occidental se ha marcado todavía más. Alemania, por ejemplo, tiene casi el doble de habitantes en un territorio mucho más chico.

[@AdamSahr-cj4kf]

It's a good thing to have underpopulated areas. Urbanisation trashes the land and the ecosystem.

[@egutiguti3337]

Afortunadamente.

[@arifshahabuddin8888]

I've been to Spain a couple of times but I focused mostly on Andalusia and Madrid. In some future trip, I will go to the other regions (Catalonia, the Basque Country, etc.). One city well worth visiting in the ring is Toledo. It was the early historic capital of the Moors and later of the Reconquista. It also has a significant Spanish Civil War history. It has an important historically Jewish quarter. It's about one hour away from Madrid on their high speed train.

[@TheOneAnd178]

Shockingly if see hard enough in the aragon part of the "empty ring", you can find Zaragoza, Spain's 5th largest city and metro region which all on its own has ~15% of the entire "empty ring's" population standing out as the huge exception.

[@arifshahabuddin8888]

@@TheOneAnd178 Very true. I will have to visit Zaragoza. I must say, however, after watching this video, I felt empty inside.

[@neyou6940]

And before that It was the capital of the visigoth kingdom

[@Muzakman37]

Definitely explore Extremadura, especially the northern half (Caceres province), there's nowhere else like it in Spain, and it's home to glorious medieval towns/cities like Caceres & Trujillo as well as the remarkable Roman city of Merida. Also explore Aragon, another uniquely rugged, beautiful region that's remarkably varied. Both regions are seriously empty and you'll have entire vistas to yourself.

[@egutiguti3337]

Antes de eso, Toledo fue la primera capital de los visigodos. Y un orgullo y un impulso en la reconquista para los cristianos al volver a reconquistarla a los moros. Allí convivían judíos, moros y cristianos, pero cada etnia dividida en sus propios barrios, hasta la expulsión, primero de judíos y posteriormente de los moros, es una de las ciudades con un casco medieval mejor conservados al igual que Segovia. Y también hay que decir que el arco de herradura fue un invento visigodo, después adoptado por los moros invasores.

[@kosjeyr]

Is that the mic in your hair, Geoff?

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

Kinda reminds me of the American federal government encouraging growth in the south and west at the expense of the Midwest and Northeast (Rust Belt). Providing cheap water and energy for a.c. whilst MASSIVELY subsidizing/encouraging the car. 😢

[@Peter_Schiavo]

There's no choice in these rural areas. A car is essential.

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

@@Peter_Schiavo I am not talking about rural areas so much as sun belt cities that are built with the car envisioned as the primary (so only practical) means of transportation.

[@erkkinho]

The movement out from the central part of the country, especially Castilla and León, began already hundreds of years ago, when, curiously they were one of the most populated areas of Spain.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

Do geographers study population pyramids? If so please consider doing some videos on those topics and the population futures of various countries

[@manelmunoz2375]

Greetings from someone whose family came from the empty ring to the coast in Barcelona

[@sergiodma]

I feel like the ring is even bigger than that, reaching the northern part of Leon and Huesca up to the Pyrenees

[@carlosruiz7104]

El anillo debería abarcar león, Palencia (no se porque no lo remarca), huesca, Navarra, orense, Lugo y Lérida

[@JosinPrimero]

Quita del empty ring a Valladolid y Zaragoza, por favor...

[@sergiodma]

Fun fact: despite the emptyness, three of the Spanish presidents come from Castilla y León. It's the region that ranks higher in terms of education every year, according to PISA, in the country.

[@alexgg327]

I confirm, I live there and I took the PISA exam

[@_o..o_1871]

I agree. I am “PISA in the country”. Nice to meet you!

[@lmarts]

One of them is a psychopath. He used to wear a short moustache. High education won't give you empathy and ethical behaviour.

[@sergiodma]

@@lmarts you must be andalusian.

[@lmarts]

@@sergiodma nope. I'm Valencian, with a master's degree. Not as bigot as your reply makes you seem.

[@Pakinov]

It's pretty impressive when you fly around central spain, look down and see almost no cities or towns

[@SeverityOne]

Excellent video, Geoff. Very well researched. One thing of note is that Spain has an extensive network of motorways (freeways), and the second-longest high-speed train network in the world after China, but ahead of Japan, France and Germany. Part of the reason for these is the empty ring. We'll be visiting Barcelona next year. Yay!

[@Peter_Schiavo]

The highways are very good and, at least for now, toll free. The EU would like that to change.

[@SeverityOne]

@@Peter_Schiavo The EU doesn't care whether you levy toll or not. Do you think that the EU could impose tolls when Germany (and the Netherlands) don't levy it? Never going to happen. What the EU wants is that countries run a responsible budget; in other words, don't spend money on fanciful projects, so that a minister can have a photo op. Considering that Spain is in the lower half of EU when it comes to GDP (PPP), what it spends on infrastructure appears disproportionate. Its motorway and high speed rail network may make sense given its geography, but not given its economy.

[@egutiguti3337]

@@SeverityOnebueno, la red de alta velocidad creo que también llegará a ser muy rentable económicamente debido al incremento del turismo, que cada vez más, se mueve desde la costa para conocer el interior y esto es muy apropiado con la alta velocidad.

[@selinapersaud7629]

I was in Spain just a little less than three months ago. by the way, I really like your names for the empty parts of countries. I think they’re very clever.

[@maxpowr90]

Basically it's the same problem as West Virginia or any other mountainous region.

[@trapmuzik6708]

yeah mountains is not great for farming hard to support a large population

[@Lucas24997]

Not really, that region is not more montainous than the rest of the country, and in there is the biggest flatlands area of the entire country, La Mancha

[@MarcPagan]

As one of Spanish ancestry .....gracias for a fun, well researched, and interesting video.

[@LailandiAdventures]

I live in the empty ring and damn I wish it was more empty in the supermarkets on Saturdays, the queues take an age!

[@mickpeterson3722]

Does anyone know what software he uses for the maps?

[@yungestchorizo3997]

Im from the emty ring (near Segovia). There are actually quite a lot of small villages at some party and we have the craziest partys. If you ask any spanish person they will tell you that zhe villages go craaazy in summer 🤙🏽

[@mardiffv.8775]

So Ibiza has competition in partying?

[@yungestchorizo3997]

i mean its different. In ibiza you don't know anyone and its more like tourist partys.. I'm talking about what thee people do with the little they have @@mardiffv.8775

[@sergiogrima8331]

Great video. Just a little detail: you've forgotten the two Autonomous Cities: Ceuta &Melilla. They're equivalent to Autonomous Regions (though smaller) and their autonomy is protected by the Spanish Constitution.

[@JoBalDez]

Great vid. The map at 3:44 is a bit deceiving, because it is an actual one and you are talking about the napoleonic wars.

[@douglasdea637]

I've noticed this ring. I play a game called Eurorails which includes the Iberian peninsula. Madrid is the lone major city there with a few smaller cities along the coast. Building rail lines to Madrid and the other cities can be quite profitable and is usually necessary to win the game (not all the time though.)

[@carlosruiz7104]

En el interior peninsular está Zaragoza con unos 700.000 habitantes y Valladolid con 330.000 habitantes y un área metropolitana de más de 450. 000 habitantes. Luego también hay una serie de ciudsdes con más de 100.000 habitantes como León, Burgos, Salamanca, Albacete, Talavera de la Reina, Badajoz y Logroño. Lógicamente la población vive dispersa en estas zonas, pero es una región muy rica en ciudades muy importantes aunque sean de escasa población y ojo que en la lista no incluyó a Mérida, Cáceres, Plasencia, Toledo, Segovia, Ávila, Teruel, Palencia, Zamora , etc..... Que son ciudades con un legado histórico y arquitectónico espectacular

[@Carlos-wv3yj]

Madrid and Barcelona sound so posh

[@cmichaelhaugh8517]

Very interesting! This is one of your best videos.

[@georgyzhukov6409]

Awesome.vid and ears

[@sapinva]

Every time you do a "Why So Few People". I get excited and check the property values, usually ending in disappointment.

[@MrAngryCucaracha]

You can find very cheap houses, but there is a reason why those areas are cheap.

[@MJ-sy2en]

All I can think of is that's where area zero is lol. Great crater of Paldea.

[@marcos1669]

I am from Spain i dont think this has to do with Franco, most developed countries had this transition from rural to urban population because of industrialization, so is more of a "natural" thing

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I would think so.

[@Mrvictory61]

Interesting 😊

[@phoenixk4328]

2:12 it was Muslim Arabs who invaded The peninsula and established the empire. north africans were in the army

[@aritzlizarragaolascoaga6254]

Why did you include the Autonomous Community of Navarre in the Basque Country? Why?

[@davidgreen7392]

The movement of people to around the edges, is much like most countries.

[@Viktoria_Selene]

Dont forget about the two autonomous cities, ceuta and melilla

[@TheJamonLance]

as spaniard myself, the solution is easy yet unpopular. Move and distribite the humongous public workforce that is not customer facing to the empty ring, as well as provide elderly care in the area rather than in the cities, so pensionists are incentivized to move there.

[@ESPendatos]

The 4th place most populated in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia is Alicante with 2 million inhabitants, more than Sevilla or Bilbao.

[@benjami4359]

When ever i heard about Span still and always remember fiction book “Sands of time” by sedny Sheldon.

[@ricardodelgadofrancisco2002]

Spain has also 2 more territories in northern Africa, Ceuta and Melilla.

[@oriolandres1085]

I'm afraid you are wrong. Don't blame Franco for the "Empty Spain" (or "Emptied Spain"), but the efforts of all the Spanish Governments since s.XVIII to built a large city (Madrid) in the middle of the country. Centralized authority, radial systems of roads and trains, all the cultural institutions drained to "the capital"... instead of strengthnening the local industries and economies. And this effort is still alive...

[@jettjones9889]

People leaving rural areas for large cities is hardly the fault of Franco. It’s a happened in every developed country.

[@SoyElLoboGris13]

As someone who lives in Zaragoza, i took that as a insult

[@jabato9779]

In the north you got wrong the map of the Basque Country, you included other region (Navarra) and part of France as part of the Basque Country and they are not. Also, you missed the Cantabria region as part of the northern regions, which is also beautiful and a rugged mountainous region.

[@srmagnet0191]

Basque country en inglés hace referencia a "Euskal Herria" lo que viene siendo la antigua Vasconia y por lo tanto incluye a navarra. Pais Vasco en castellano se traduce como "Euskadi" y eso si que es solo la comunidad autonoma. No se ha equivocado es que esta hablando de cosas distintas

[@likmaw]

“Why does nobody live there?” Me, as someone who lives there 🙃

[@danielloureirotarilonte8216]

Looking those maps it may seem that the cities of Barcelona and Valencia are away from the coast; that is wrong, both are coast cities. On the other hand, Sevilla is on its place

[@user-xh8qx2ht6n]

Aqui otro manchego nacido en los 60S,decirte que estoy de acuerdo contigo,mis padres,tios ,primos y hermanos todos vivimos repartidos entre Madrid,Barcelona,Valencia e Islas Baleares,la razon muy simple era donde habia trabajo y 5 decadas despues sigue siendo igual

[@tommyvercetti9434]

Because sady we're a country of waiters and without beaches there are no German and British tourists to serve mojitos to. But fear not, if things keep going like this every major city near the coast will be property of AirBnB so we will have to move to the unhabited areas. It's already happening where I live in the Canary Islands were hotels can't find more waiters because people just can't afford the inflated rent prices.

[@bent2419]

Valencia only have about 800.000 inhabitants. The region V. maybe 2,5 mill.

[@anthonyboomer641]

I wonder, does this "Empty Zone" extend into Portugal?

[@mardiffv.8775]

Yes indeed, the Portugese are mainly located on the Southern coast.

[@kikeb1534]

La recosquista didnt come from north of europe came from north of spain.

[@Morzo97]

You included Navarra into the basque country. They also speak basque, but they are another region

[@josegfc5264]

You putted Navarra like part of basque country

[@queimportaqueimporta]

LMAO that's not a map of the Basque Country. That's a map of Euskal Herria, that includes Navarra and parts of France too. Good video.

[@victormenendeznunez7783]

Great video about the “España vaciada”

[@FrankyRedEyes]

To find out for sure you should launch an inquisition 😂

[@Finkiu]

I wouldn't say that Toledo or Ciudad Real are empty, as they habe more population than several provinces in the coast, and not only concentrated in its capital like Valladolid or Zaragoza.

[@josegfc5264]

Talking about meseta and putting photos of canary islands

[@jaime8263]

You forgot to mention that Zaragoza in Aragon is the 4th most populated city in Spain (I mean, it shouldn't be included in that depopulated areas) anyways, NICE VID mate :)

[@Santiago-uy7gh]

The people who lived in those territories were dragged to Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community and Madrid in the face of a job offer that exceeded their expectations.

[@jmendes3414]

2:10 You got it wrong, it was the Moops!

[@SierraCameros]

Greetins from the empty La Rioja. It feels great to live here. When I go to Madrid it's all full of people, some of them dangerous. In some parts of Madrid I even feel as a foreigner. Not to mention the Mediterranean coast, I can't think of a worst place to live (from my personal PoV). It's all massified and dirty. No thanks. BTW, stop playing the Franco card. He was a son of a ***** but the loss of rural population wasn't his fault. It had begun much earlier and happened in other countries too.

[@kikeb1534]

Huesca is close to the border with france. And is empty. Ans more so the empty map is even bigger

[@SantaFe19484]

If this sounds shocking, consider the following: China is the world's most populous country (possibly the second now), but two thirds of its land area is empty, or least sparsely populated. That might make a future video.

[@playu99]

Reconquista started in the region of Asturias, not in France!!!

[@dannyesse3043]

8 million isn't that few to be honest

[@erents1]

I’m guessing that theres little water, little rain.

[@egutiguti3337]

Si algo bueno hizo el dictador Franco, fueron los pantanos, creó una gran infraestructura de pantanos, el interior no suele tener problema de falta de agua, es más, se trasvasa agua del Río Tajo que nace en el interior y se envía a la zona agrícola situada en la costa de Murcia, en el mediterráneo. No es ese el problema, en el interior de la península, el problema viene de la falta de industria, ya que Franco enfocó toda la ayuda a la industria hacia Cataluña y el País Vasco. Por otro lado la zona interior tiene una gran belleza paisajística, con grandes montañas y grandes dehesas llenas de robles y encinas donde se cría el cerdo ibérico que se alimenta de bellotas, que es por su sabor orgullo de la gastronomía española. También el centro tiene mucha riqueza en fauna y flora, lobos, linces, ciervos, jabalíes, es una bella y tranquila zona para vivir si ya tienes el tema económico resuelto.

[@AdorianGP]

I appreciate the effort, but as a spaniard I see A LOT of misinformation in this video TBH

[@Stephanie-vx4zi]

What happened to the Canary Islands?!🧐 Can't see them on the yellow maps?

[@egutiguti3337]

El centro está algo despoblado, pero no por ello abandonado. En Castilla-La mancha se da el mayor porcentaje de cultivo vitivinícola de Europa. También el famoso y conocido y consumido mundialmente, queso manchego, en Extremadura se crian con bellotas el mayor número de cerdos ibéricos también conocidos y consumidos mundialmente. Al igual que en Teruel en Aragón y en Salamanca en Castilla y Leon, tierras de buenos jamones y buenos embutidos. En Castilla y Leon se produce el mayor cultivo de cereales, trigo sobre todo, de toda España. Podría seguir con otros ejemplos. Está poco poblada pero no abandonada ni vacía, simplemente es la mayor zona agrícola y ganadera de ovino y porcino de la península y debería estar muchísimo mejor considerada y valorada de lo que está, tal vez se debe a que sus ciudadanos son sufridos y trabajadores y no se quejan tanto como los demás. Cualquier turista que viene del extranjero lo primero que prueba es el jamón ibérico y muchos otros productos que se producen en la España vaciada.

[@carlosruiz7104]

Me resulta curioso el ver cua do se colorea el mapa peninsular español, están todas las provincias o algunas conunidades coloreadas enteras y en ellas metes a León y Palencia sin bien no daber porqué, pprque lógicamente pertenecen a la España mesetaria y por supuesto a la España vacia y en el mapa de Navarra, que lógicamente no es meseta, pero si una region con muy poca ppblayen realización a su tamaño

[@Peter_Schiavo]

We bought our house in a small farm town in Cuenca province in Castilla-LaMancha. Primarily for the dry climate and cost of housing. Farming is the main driver of activity. The town comes alive in Summer, swelling the population to triple it's Winter pop. We are lucky that we are big enough to have banks, a pharmacy, grocery stores, a health clinic, schools with good numbers of kids. In the US, with climate like we enjoy here, factories would arrive to create jobs. You see it all over the South in the US. Don't know why the same thing doesn't happen here.

[@Beulraeki]

So... just basically what Paldea from Pokemon does Spain/Iberia well.

[@gergerger5888]

Why did you exclude lots of empty regions like Huesca or Leon? Empty Spain is even bigger than what it is shown in this map.

[@ignacio8027]

¿La reconquista fue por parte de los reinos del norte y este de Europa??? Fue el reino de Asturias el que inició la reconquista y el resto de reinos del norte de la peninsula. Con ayuda del resto de europa en cruzadas como la de la toma de granada pero decir que fueron los paises de Europa los que hicieron la reconquista es del todo inexacto

[@user-kw2sp3gq4d]

the hierarchy of geography