More than half the municipalities in Andalucía are at risk of depopulation

Andalucía is not immune to the 'empty Spain' syndrome. Although depopulation is usually linked to the regions even further inland, the problem is also affecting Andalucía.

Most of Andalucía's population is concentrated along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts and around the provincial capitals and other medium to large towns. Meanwhile the number of inhabitants in the small municipalities further inland is on the decline.

This problem, which goes hand in hand with the ageing of the population, affects more than half of Andalucía's municipalities. Turning to specifics, the Junta has identified 426 municipalities that are suffering from depopulation, which represents more than 54% of the total. No province has managed to evade this issue, as reflected in the list of municipalities whose residents will be able to take advantage of the tax benefits approved from 2019 that are specifically aimed at towns, or more often than not villages, with 3,000 inhabitants or less. With the application of these reductions in house purchase and property-related taxes, the savings when buying a home can reach 6,750 euros and the deduction for the birth of a child now stands at 400 euros.

The province with the highest percentage of municipalities in this situation, and therefore most eligible for these benefits, is Granada, the Andalusian province with the highest number of municipalities (174), of which 121 (69.5) are considered to be at risk of depopulation. It is followed by Almeria, a province with 103 municipalities, of which 69 (67%) have fewer than 3,000 inhabitants. Coming up behind them is Huelva, with 49 of its 80 municipalities (61%) in the same situation.

Also with more than half of their municipalities at risk of depopulation are Jaen with 56 out of 97 (58%), then Malaga with 59 out of 103 municipalities, or 57%.

With less than half at risk are Cordoba with 37 out of 77, or 48%, Cadiz with 11 out of 45 (24%) and Seville with 24 out of 106, or 23%.

Unlike what happens in other Spanish regions, which are constantly losing inhabitants from the whole region, in Andalucía the migratory processes are internal. This process takes place mainly from inland to the coastal areas.

To alleviate this phenomenon, in 2023 Andalucía's regional government launched a strategy against depopulation in which 11 areas of the region were identified as being at risk due to the constant loss of inhabitants. These are the Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche (Huelva), the Sierra del Segura and Cazorla (Jaen), Sierra de la Olla de Guadix and Baza (Granada), Los Pedroches and the Guadiato valley (Cordoba), Alpujarra (in the provinces of Granada and Almeria), Sierra Morena and Vega Alta (Seville), Sierras Occidentales de Malaga, Andévalo and the county of Cuenca Minera (centre of mining activity in the area) in Huelva, Sierra Filambre and Alamilla (Almeria), El Condado in Jaen and the north-western area of Cadiz and Los Alcornocales.

Part of the strategy implemented by the Junta to combat depopulation is applied in the fiscal field. The reductions applied affect various tax figures.

As a result, in the region's personal income tax bracket, residents in these municipalities can deduct 400 euros for each child born or adopted, or for each child in foster care. For the purchase of a home residents in these places have gone from paying 8% in property transfer tax and stamp duty (ITPAJD) to a reduced rate of 3.5% provided the property is used as their primary residence and the value of the property does not exceed 150,000 euros.

In 2024 some 1,417 self-assessments were filed for this tax with benefits for purchases of primary residences in unpopulated municipalities for a total amount of 3,193,000 euros.

According to regional Minister of Economy Carolina España, these measures are an incentive to keep the population in situ in these rural areas and is one of the many initiatives in this regard that form part of the fiscal policy of Juanma Moreno's Junta.

The minister has also highlighted the increase in the number of beneficiaries of the tax deductions introduced from 2019: those for the birth or adoption of children, large families, educational expenses and donations for ecological purposes.

These four tax rebates alone have benefited almost 215,000 Andalusian taxpayers (214,927 to be precise), saving 21.6 million euros in this aspect alone. These rebates constituted 33.6% of the total tax savings made in 2023.