The trend of the search for a life more in contact with nature in the rural environment detected during the covid pandemic will be maintained in the immediate future. The study Rural and Urban: migrations, residential environment and structures of opportunity presented today by the Metròpoli Institute (IM) points out that from 2023 to 2027 about 70,000 people from the metropolitan region of Barcelona will have left the big cities to settle in towns.
10% of the residential changes registered in the municipalities with the most inhabitants in Catalonia “are destined for rural areas, a percentage that is reduced to 2.4% in the metropolitan region,” indicates the work, which also highlights that 247,000 citizens affirm that If they could choose, they would go to live in a rural location or with a lower population density. The average age of the protagonists of this transfer to the countryside is 36 years in the metropolitan region of Barcelona, and it is understood that young families seeking to reside in a better home and environment dominate.
Those who have chosen to change their destination express greater satisfaction with their home, which a high percentage, 80%, own, but on the other hand they regret the lesser availability of public transport. This deficit contrasts with the need for daily mobility in rural areas.
This movement from the city to the town is a minority, but in municipalities with few inhabitants the fact that receiving one or two new families is relevant. The report highlights that in 2021 “40.1% of registrations in the registry in rural areas came from large cities, five points more than in 2019.” The research indicates that in 2021 a total of 16,300 migrations of these characteristics were recorded, 4,000 more than in 2019 and 6,000 more than in 2015. This trend culminated in 2020 when it reached the figure of 17,105, although in a marked context. due to confinements and at a time when temporary registrations occurred in second homes.
The work of the Metro Institute responds to the commission carried out by the Metropolitan Strategic Plan of Barcelona, the Associació d'Iniciatives Rurales de Catalunya and the Catalan Association of Municipalities to analyze the potential for population transfer between large cities and rural areas. The authors have used data from the Urban Cohesion Survey, from IM itself, and the Residential Variations Statistics prepared by the INE.
