Development of Rural Entrepreneurship as Population Fixer:Case of Province of Ávila

Abstract

Rural areas are characterized by the dispersion of urban centers, low population density and demographic aging. These factors constitute a barrier in the implementation of new services and projects in rural areas, limiting the opportunities of young people and hindering access to goods and services for the population as a whole [2]. This reality poses challenges to the quality of life and equal opportunities for people living in rural areas, especially in municipalities with a high degree of depopulation and a low level of initiatives [3]. This reality, takes special virulence in Castilla León and, especially, in the province of Ávila, where only 5 municipalities exceed 5,000 inhabitants (Ávila, Arévalo, Arenas de San Pedro, Las Navas del Marqués and Candeleda) and there has been a constant population decline, especially virulent in rural areas, which has led to a decrease in the number of inhabitants from 167.015 in 2014 to 162.263 in 2016. In short, the rural context has experienced in recent years a phenomenon in which each there are more people reaching an advanced age and, on the other hand, a decrease in the young population that fixes and maintains the rural nuclei in which there is a contextual reality of scarcity of services and absence of interventions. It should be a priority for any institution linked to the province of Ávila to provide the valid tools to change this trend. Therefore, this research has as one of its top priorities not only the study of population aging, the increase in the dependent population, the loss of competitiveness of rural areas, etc. but the implementation of measures and actions that allow transforming these threats into opportunities [4]. With the development of economically depressed areas, we seek to respond to three basic needs to make possible a sustainable future for the region and the people who inhabit it: - Improve the training and well-being of the people who live in this environment offering future perspectives. - Make economic and population growth viable in these areas, avoiding their gradual depopulation and impoverishment. - Protect and conserve the capacity of the natural resource base to continue providing production, environmental and cultural services.