A new socio-territorial contract for Spain within the framework of the 2030 territorial agenda

The gap between urban areas and rural territories and smaller municipalities leads to a differential in rights and opportunities between these areas. Hence, the 2030 territorial agenda is vital to generate a sustainable future for all places and people in the EU.

Recently, depopulated areas have emerged as the main public and political problem in Spain. It was not until 2020 that this issue was addressed from a national perspective, with the creation of a specific new Spanish ministry that has promoted a battery of initiatives. The current government of Spain has designed and launched a national policy to fight depopulation and socioterritorial imbalances from a new multilevel governance perspective.

As a result, the new Sectoral Conference for Demographic Challenge, where regional and national governments share common goals and strategies, was constituted on 23 July 2020.  
In 2021, the government of Spain approved for the first time a national action plan, the plan of 130 measures to face the demographic challenge, with a budgetary commitment of more than EUR 13 billion from the Spanish recovery, transformation and resilience plan.

The national action plan represents an exercise of coordination and activation of new lines of action for each of the ministries, thus investing directly in rural areas and in the municipalities with the smallest populations. 

This national action plan is oriented towards diverse goals such as economic diversification, promotion of innovation, full digital connectivity, rural and urban link improvement, provision of basic services, and the incorporation of the territorial and rural perspective in the government’s decision-making process, all of which lead to place-based policy design. 

It is worth highlighting some of the concrete measures, resulting from this plan and all the work developed by the Spanish Secretary-General for the Demographic Challenge, that have been remarkably successful: 

-the creation of the Fund for Cohesion and Territorial Transformation, a specific financing tool to promote a polycentric territorial model for small and medium-sized cities designed and approved in cooperation with the Spanish autonomous communities and local governments; 

-the call for grants for local innovative projects for small and medium-sized cities; 
the creation of the network of territorial innovation centres at the provincial and/or regional level (i.e. in Cuenca, Pirineos, Teruel and Soria, among others); 

-the attraction of young talent to the territory with the rural campus programme; 
the new integrated municipal data system; 
a new law, which introduced the rural proofing mechanism; 

-the incorporation of the European Regional Development Fund, with a new emblematic line of action: ‘support for the development of driving projects for the transformation of non-urban areas for a sustainable and inclusive territorial rebalancing’; 

-projects for forestry and bioeconomy management; 

-digital training and capacities in rural areas. 

After 2.5 years of these political initiatives, some key conclusions have been drawn:  

-The fight against depopulation means fighting for spatial justice and against inequalities between territories. 

In 2021, the government of Spain approved for the first time a national action plan of 130 measures to face the demographic challenge, with a budgetary commitment of more than EUR 13 billion from the Spanish recovery, transformation and resilience plan.

Sectoral policies have not contributed efficiently to balanced territorial development; this clearly supports applying the integrated territorial approach to these sectoral policies. As a result, the government of Spain is trying to redefine its territorial model, following a new approach and style of governance in line with the 2030 territorial agenda. The agenda underlines the importance of strategic spatial planning and provides guidance for strengthening the territorial dimension of sectoral policies at all levels of governance.

This vision implies that we must rethink the relationship between urban, intermediary and, most importantly – because of the specific characteristics of the Spanish urban system in many regions – rural (small/medium) places and cities.

The current model of concentration of people, services and investments is unsustainable, in economic and social terms and in natural ones, because most natural areas are paying costs as lagging regions it is not fair.

The demographic challenge (depopulation and older people without enough young people and women) is also a democratic challenge that affects the rights of people living in ‘places that don’t matter’ (with known effects on people’s disaffection with politics and the EU project).
The deployment of policy against the demographic challenge must be carried out in a framework of multilevel and multiactor partnership.

One of the main priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is to support TA 2030 as a real, action-oriented tool capable of improving policies on the ground through concrete actions at all scales with effective good governance. 

For all these reasons, comprehensive visions focusing on economic, social and territorial cohesion are needed from local to EU level.

These visions should be based on, for example, community-led local development, integrated territorial investment and local Green Deal initiatives (paying special attention to innovation technologies and digitalisation), and should apply the ‘do no harm to EU cohesion’ and ‘do no harm to ecological transition’ principles.

All these initiatives represent a huge exercise of multilevel governance, coordination and mutual learning that is absolutely vital at the moment. The initiatives are based on commitments by the government of Spain, the regional governments and local entities, and are in line with the Territorial Agenda 2030.

Despite the Territorial Agenda 2030, there is still a need to improve communication, effectiveness and analysis so that we can contribute to a stronger territorial dimension in the regulations for the EU Cohesion Policy after 2027. Many public actions are needed and there is a long way to go in Spain and in Europe.

One of the most significant objectives of the Spanish Presidency is to advance towards real economic, social and territorial cohesion by providing equal rights and balanced opportunities throughout the EU.

The contribution of ESPON will be crucial. One of the main priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is to support TA 2030 as a real, action-oriented tool capable of improving policies on the ground through concrete actions at all scales (from local to EU), with effective good governance, thus identifying its added value in facing current EU and international trends and challenges.

One of the most significant objectives of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union is to advance towards real economic, social and territorial cohesion by providing equal rights and balanced opportunities throughout the EU. This spatial justice is to be based on participation in and coordination of spatial smart specialisation strategies at all levels, for which an integrated territorial approach to sectoral policies should be encouraged in order to achieve inclusive, functional and better articulated territories.

Intermediary cities should play a definitive role in territorial cohesion through polycentrism, rural–urban partnerships and territorial cooperation networks for both general interest services and local labour market opportunities, prioritising the welfare, satisfaction and coverage of the needs of rural populations.

Relationships and interactions between the rural, the intermediate and the urban are the bases of this public policy. This implies a new contract between rural and urban areas within the framework of common objectives, aiming to make territories active (generating innovative ecosystems with the capacity to provide opportunities for territorial economic development), inclusive (from gender, social, cultural and generational perspectives) and functional (guaranteeing appropriate articulation and universal access to services and opportunities supported by digitalisation).

During the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we will have the opportunity to discuss these priorities during ESPON Week (13–17 November 2023) and in the seminar ‘Intermediary cities as a key to sustainable development and urban–rural cooperation’, which is expected to offer an open reflection on the role of small and medium-sized cities as intermediaries in policy combating depopulation and socioterritorial cohesion, and how small and medium-sized cities will contribute to building the new territorial contract.