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

[@-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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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).

[@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.

[@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!

[@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...

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@hiphipjorge5755]

​@@ditt9094 *descendants, this means the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Spanish immigrants

[@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

[@KeltarDevir]

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.

[@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).

[@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.

[@scarletcrusade77]

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

[@supervivo7069]

I once rode the bus from Madrid to Salamanca, a city near the Portuguese border. Let me tell you, there was absolutely nothing but super tiny villages along the way.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@hiphipjorge5755]

Yes, I'm surprised no one mentions this in these videos. From the 1500s to the 1800s, there was a steady emigration of 1-2 million Spaniards, mostly to the colonies in the Americas. And most of that already came from the South and Central parts of Spain, notably Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla, León, Galicia and Basque Country. The Canaries later sent tens of thousands to the Caribbean Now, this isn't the main reason Spain has less population than it should, but it's a big part of why. Only the United Kingdom had more emigration, Portugal about the same, while France never had nearly as much. Germany and Italy sent out a lot of people but only later on, as they didn't have colonies.

[@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.

[@kosjeyr]

Is that the mic in your hair, Geoff?

[@BrianMacrabie-te8ob]

I enjoyed the video I learned alot thanks

[@Tomanot9Juanma]

Spain never had "colonies". Spain expanded as an empire in America, Europe and other parts of the world. Everyone in those territories was a subject of the Spanish crown, exactly the same and in the peninsula. That cannot be said of the rest of the empires, the only one resembling it was the Roman empire.

[@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.

[@MarcPagan]

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

[@manelmunoz2375]

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

[@playu99]

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

[@metacosmos]

nobody wants to live in the empty core of Spain, too cold in winter and scorching in summer. Everybody wants to live close to the big towns. As in Australia.

[@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

[@Pakinov]

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

[@alonso9248]

All the myths in only few minutes: the Islam bring culture and science, the empire was colonial (NO), the Inquisition... myths and more myths.

[@KrlKngMrtssn]

@@alonso9248 well, that's the discourse they adhere to in the Anglophone community. Needless to say it's largely dominated by the English way of looking at Spanish history, which at the same time is strongly influenced by the historic Protestant vs Catholic rivalry and its associated anti Spanish / anti catholic sentiment, resulting in a large propaganda campaign attempting at lowering others prestige or influence. There's vast literature explaining this phenomenon. Unfortunately, Anglo culture has adopted that discourse in popular culture and beliefs and interiorised it, making it "their truth". Fortunately, serious scholars and historians know better nowadays. 😉

[@iveseenyourrepulsionitlook534]

El cero y la algoritmia entraron a Europa a través de Al-Ándalus. Sin ellos no estarías aquí escribiendo tus quejas nacionalistas sin sentido.

[@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.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

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

[@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

[@jettjones9889]

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

[@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

[@phoenixk4328]

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

[@LearnLaughLiveLearn-Laugh-Live]

Interesting content. Thank you.

[@Morzo97]

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

[@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.

[@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.

[@JosinPrimero]

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

[@javiermaleno8215]

Reality: Spain discovered "New world" from ALASKA to bottom south of Argentina/Chile. Yes, they were, most likely, the greatest explorers EVER.

[@santorini8423]

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

[@SLorenziify]

2:34 What??? Reconquista was made by Christians living in the Iberian peninsula, not by "northern and eastern (Europan) Christian kingdoms"!!! 3:35 Spanish "Autonomous regions" were established in the 1980s, almost two centuries after the Napoleonic invasion.

[@likmaw]

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

[@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.

[@ramirocambeiro1144]

So many mistakes. As a teacher I expect more for a basic school project using Wikipedia. It is not helpul teaching oversimplified and wrong information.

[@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!

[@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

[@enriquecrespo7801]

The population difference between "the empty ring" and the coastal areas + Madrid became more and more prominent AFTER the dictatorship ended. Indeed, Franco made several decisions in order to promote and keep economic activity in the inner Spain (like dams or towns creation), while after democracy, capitalism took over the country and most of companies moved to bigger cities to be more efficient. Don't get me wrong, Franco was a dictator and was a pain in the ass for the country, but it has been the decisions of his democratic successors that have enhanced the empty ring situation to the current extreme. Feel free to check the % population distribution from 1939 and 2023 to confirm my point.

[@davidcg5641]

Increíble que todavía sigáis hablando los historiadores anglosajones de la Inquisición española de esa forma en esta época en la que ya tenemos todos internet para ver la verdad de la Inquisición y la propaganda protestante de ella.. un abrazo

[@aritzlizarragaolascoaga6254]

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

[@Carlos-wv3yj]

Madrid and Barcelona sound so posh

[@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.

[@kikeb1534]

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

[@MJ-sy2en]

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

[@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

[@Moncalvillo-AM]

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.

[@josegfc5264]

Talking about meseta and putting photos of canary islands

[@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

[@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.

[@AulicExclusiva]

The USA, Canada, Australia, have vast empty regions. Is this Franco's fault as well?

[@SoyElLoboGris13]

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

[@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

[@davidgreen7392]

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

[@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.

[@cachazacachazacachaza]

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.

[@AdorianGP]

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

[@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.

[@Rehook2]

I'm afraid Franco has little to do with the depopulation of this areas., well, actually nothing. For starters, depopulation of rural areas is an universal thing so Spain is no different. On the other hand you have to take into consideration the orography of Spain, a hell of a headache, and its secular population distribution in more than 5 000 human settlements and more than half of them with less than 1000 people. The above made sense in an underindrustilized , underdeveloped and under mechanized agropecuaria economy with many settlements based on a subsistence one. So with the mechanization and development of other industries, such as tourism, not only less people was needed in this rural areas but more people was needed in these coastal and capital city of Madrid and its surroundings that began to offer a lot better quality of living and opportunities, so there they went. This is the best thing ever happened to Spain. Besides, and i know because i live in a very very rural and isolated area of Cy L this little towns and villages function very much as a third world country with in an already fairly corrupted one as it,s Spain which makes them even less attractive for investment. Not to mention the remaining human capital in these areas after many decades of emigration isn't the best at all. We have a saying here" Small village,big hell". Pueblo pequeño, infierno grande. Just in case you need another reason should not be the above enough. All in all, if we want to blame someone or something for this depopulated areas wonderful phenomenon that would be the human progress and the economic paradigm.

[@robertocb7911]

Excuse me sir, but the reconquista was made by the Spanish kingdoms of the north, it seems in the video that came from Europe, no way! The visigithic kingdom was the first unified kingdom of western Europe after the fall of Rome, so that map is not correct, the visigoths were arian christians when they crossed the Pyrenees, not pagans... On the other hand Franco didn't underpopulate central Spain because Franco created extense regions that were like deserts in the 19ty centuries, known as "pueblos de regadio". There was a big migration to the big cities as happened everywhere in Europe, for example in the UK, people went to the big cities sich as Manchester, Birmingham or London because there were more opportunities...

[@ggalpha3531]

Spain never had colonies, as other European countries had, but territories which were part of the kingdom of Spain whose inhabitants had the same rights as the rest of people living in the Iberian peninsula. That's the reason why there's so many native Americans living in all those countries in Central and South America that once were part of Spain. Spain considered human beings to all the old Americans inhabitants since the very beginning, fulfilling what they thought was an obligation imposed by God: to take the Word of God to the whole world. On the contrary, other non catholic Europeans countries, considered old inhabitants of their colonies as barbarians, savages worth to exterminate.

[@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.

[@Infanzones]

Siempre, siempre, siempre que un extranjero, habla del País Vasco y pone un mapa, pone como territorio vasco el Reino de Navarra, La Rioja y Cantabria. Señores el País Vasco son 7000 km cuadrados y nada más. Quizá influenciados por el nazionalismo vasco y su expansionismo a territorios que no son vascos. A ver si leemos más e informamos bien o callen.

[@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.

[@alejandroojeda1572]

I understand you're no expert in the topic, but honestly this análisis was quite shallow and mildly innacurate. Entire articles have been written about the origin of Spain's unusual demographic distribution. Though Franco did play a part on It, so did other factors. Also i'm kinda worried by some mistakes. For example at one point you showed Euskal herria instead of the basque country autonomous community...not the same 😅. Also I had never seen someone exclude northern Castille and León from the empty ring, but include Zaragoza (one of Spain biggest cities 😅😅) So to tie It all Up. It's a decent introduction to the topic, but It's sometimes poorly researched and too oversimplified.

[@aaronpenaperalta]

The video has a lot of facts that are not directly true, but what you say in 11:38 (THAT IS NOT THE BASQUE COUNTRY, you included Navarra and even parts of France!!!) is enough reason to be deleted 😵😵‍💫. Anyways, nice try.

[@javierandres2088]

You can say it, Franco gave industry to Basque country an Barcelona, that's the truth.

[@Spartakist-ch4nb]

After he destroyed u little fascist

[@ffls775]

@@Spartakist-ch4nb before him Spanish industry was already decadent, he saved it even if you don't want to acknowledge it.

[@Mr.Sax.]

Bilbao began its industrialization process in the 1840s. The Basque Country had strong industrial companies even before the 20th century. Franco didn't do shit.

[@jaumejoseoranies7948]

If it's said that there was not any city in Barcelona site between 1860 and 1940 I would also say it's wrong.

[@carloss.m.4846]

@@Spartakist-ch4nb the only fascist here is you, the one who use this words and attack when soneone thinks different. U bug fascist

[@dannyesse3043]

8 million isn't that few to be honest

[@FranciscoAlmazánruiz]

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

[@Viktoria_Selene]

Dont forget about the two autonomous cities, ceuta and melilla

[@georgyzhukov6409]

Awesome.vid and ears

[@anthonyboomer641]

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

[@mardiffv.8775]

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

[@jwrosenbury]

You failed to mention the Basques. They are one of the few pre-Indoeuropean groups to survive to this day. They almost certainly predated the Iberians. They are sometimes lumped into "the Iberians", but only when used as a catch-all for people living in the Iberian Penisula. In which case, every person who ever lived in mainland Spain was an Iberian. In other words, your statement was redundant and undermined your contention that several groups lived there.

[@Lacteagalaxia]

OMG! incredible Iam Spaniard you are a great inept you are saying the Iberians are a autochtonous culture and ethnicity did not exist?; look Wikipedia or another text of history about Iberians; you are the only suposse for ignorance one who thinks so. Iberians named a autochtonous and similar cultures and etnicity surrounded Iberum River since 6 century b.c to Roman invasion ( Ebro River) the most important river in Spain by extension the rest of Peninsula as a foreigner and not historian suposse you dont have to know much about history of Spain i invite you to come to Spain to the Iberian Art in museums or from simply nternet and see how rich the autochtonous Iberian Culture ( Lady of Elche; Dama de Baza; Warrior of Moixent etc...) or few exemples abroad was and dont write nonsenses the Iberians named since Clasicc Greece writers. .

[@angyliv8040]

They are iberians. A lot of people from Spain have negative RH not only the basques. They are like the rest of us. I've saw dna fro basque people and they are iberian in high percentages. The highest are in these regions.

[@Lacteagalaxia]

Basque language and etnicity exists of course ( Vascones ) ;i said it because it was understood that ypu were saying that the Iberians were all tje foreign cultures that have beem in Spain and that is outrageous and you did not know our native Iberian culture it is like saying that the Romans we Gauls because they were in Gaul if so it woukd have been a misuderstanding..

[@jwrosenbury]

@@Lacteagalaxia I said some used the word "Iberian" that way. Not that I agreed with them. Many groups came through Iberia. The Basques are as native as it gets, predating the Romans or even the Carthaginians.

[@Peter_Schiavo]

I read an article that the Basques are Indo-European, but because of the geographical isolation, they weren't influenced by later waves of migration and retain their more original I-E language.

[@kikeb1534]

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

[@Iranian_Phrenologist]

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

[@東方甲乙-d2c]

A few years ago I took a train from Barcelona to Madrid and then a flight to Lisbon, seeing only rural areas and low hills out of the major cities. If Madrid wasn't made the capital for its equal distancing position, nobody would have lived inland like this with no large river to provide water or transport to the sea.

[@egutiguti3337]

Madrid tiene muchas infraestructuras de abastecimiento de agua y grandes pantanos y pequeños ríos que vienen de la sierra próxima donde a menos de 30 Kilómetros de la ciudad, puedes esquiar en invierno en la estación de esquí de Nava cerrada, en un entorno de grandes montañas nevadas donde hace siglos todavía cazaban osos y hoy en día el lobo ibérico está repoblando de nuevo el territorio y esta vez protegido . Nunca ha faltado el agua en Madrid y por cierto, el agua de Madrid tiene fama de ser una de las mejores de España con muy buen sabor, limpia, cristalina y abundante.

[@IKnewMickey]

To find out for sure you should launch an inquisition 😂