Depopulation in Zamora It could be double what the official figures of today indicate: the average of 16 inhabitants per square kilometer, managed by institutions, prevents Zamora from being recognized as a depopulated area under European standards. Now, a new study puts the density of the province at 6.31.
“Invisibilizada & rdquor ;, this is the complaint transmitted from the Viriatos Association of Zamora on the statistical treatment of depopulation in the territory. Nowadays, the European Union does not consider Zamora as a “very sparsely populated & rdquor; for exceeding 8 inhabitants per square kilometer, and leaves the province out of access to funds “very important & rdquor; and a differentiated tax system “as in the case of Canarias & rdquor ;, they claim from Viriatos, where they pursue the recognition of the Celtiberian Strip as a “functional region & rdquor; or “geographic areas with administrative authority & rdquor ;, which has been delimited by Pilar Burillo in the aforementioned study, where it analyzes the population density with local parameters instead of provincial ones.
Burillo’s study estimates the density of the entire Celtic Strip at 7.9 inhabitants per square kilometer, from which Zamora would be the worst stop with 6.31
Recognizing the Celtic Strip would serve “to unite in defense of our interests, just as hydrographic basins do & rdquor ;, they exemplify from Viriatos on a new territorial administrative model that would put aside the provinces and unify La Raya in terms of depopulation in a new area that would include Ourense, León, Zamora, Salamanca and part of Cáceres and Badajoz and that it would help to “unify the territory & rdquor ;, they explain from Viriatos, where they understand the fight for depopulation as a battle to be fought together “Zamora alone would come to absolutely nothing & rdquor ;, they sentence.
Burillo’s study estimates the density of the entire Celtic Strip at 7.9 inhabitants per square kilometer, from which Zamora would be the worst stop with 6.31. León remains in second place with a density of 6.76; Salamanca follows with 7.55. These three provinces would be located within the first area delimited by the study, that of density less than 8 inhabitants per square kilometer. The second would delimit the areas below 12.5 inhabitants per square kilometer, where Ourense would be located with 9.18; Cáceres with 9.25 and Badajoz with 11.98.
The Spanish Celtic Strip would group 511 municipalities with a total census of 238,000 inhabitants. Its sister, the Portuguese Celtic Strip has 346 parishes with a population density of 10.03 inhabitants per square kilometer, which translates into 162,000 inhabitants, which makes both countries add more than 400,000 inhabitants affected.