The Terres de l'Ebre concentrate eight of the 10 poorest municipalities in Catalonia. Poverty understood as the average gross income of its inhabitants, according to data from the Tax Agency published this week and corresponding to the year 2021. The data refers to municipalities with more than 1,000 inhabitants.
The one with the lowest income is Batea, with 18,034 euros, followed by Horta de Sant Joan (20,742). After these are located two Lleida municipalities in the Segrià region: Seròs and Aitona. The rest that complete the ranking of the 10 poorest are from Terres de l'Ebre: Sant Jaume d'Enveja, Camarles, Santa Bárbara, El Perelló, L'Aldea and Ulldecona.
Why this concentration in the same territory? “One possibility is the greater aging of the population in these areas,” answers Josep Oliver, professor of applied economics at the UAB. “The older the population, the more likely it is that the income will be low,” he clarifies. What the Tax Agency measures is the average gross income, which is the sum of salaries, pensions and other income such as returns on securities. Therefore, if the volume of older people is very high, income is low because pensions are usually lower than salaries. While on average in Catalonia, those over 65 years of age represent 19% of the population, in the three regions of Terres de l'Ebre where the municipalities are located it is between 22 and 29%.
Oliver adds that other reasons that may be behind the low income of these municipalities is that they are places where there is little presence of industry, which is the sector where salaries are highest. On the other hand, in agriculture and services salaries are lower.
On the other hand, the richest municipalities are the usual ones every year. Matadepera leads the ranking with an average gross income of 50,704 euros, almost three times more than Batea. It is followed by Teià, Alella, Sant Just Desvern and Sant Cugat del Vallès with around 43,000 euros. Rounding out the top 10 are Sant Vicenç de Montalt, Cabrils, Tiana, Sitges and Cabrera de Mar.
Oliver reflects that these municipalities are characterized by “very high employment rates and very low unemployment.” Obviously they are towns with the presence of luxury developments occupied by high-income taxpayers. The statistics also show that Riudarenes (Girona), which was ranked second in 2020, has fallen to 143. In that year, the high position in the ranking was explained by the dividends of a company whose owners reside in the municipality or because a neighbor won the lottery.
When what happens in Spain as a whole is analyzed, the municipalities with the lowest-income taxpayers are concentrated in Andalusia and Extremadura. The 10 'poorest' towns are in those two communities: five in each one. The one that leads the ranking in Spain where the income is lowest is Higuera de Vargas (Badajoz) with 12,737 euros. Pedro Martínez (Granada) and Zahínos (Badajoz) are next with less than 14,000 euros.
At the top of the whole of Spain, those of Madrid share the podium with the municipalities of Barcelona. Where the highest income is in Pozuelo de Alarcón. Also appearing in the top 10 are Boadilla del Monte, Alcobendas and Torrelodones. According to the Tax Agency, in 2021 the average gross income amounted to 29,014 euros, 4.5% more than the previous year.
