TOLEDO.- The Government of Castilla-La Mancha is going to allocate one in every four euros of the regional budgets for 2025 to the implementation of measures to stop and reverse depopulation in the autonomous community, and which are included in the Demographic Impact Report which, for the third consecutive year, is included in the regional accounts.
This was stated today by the first vice president of the regional Executive, José Luis Martínez Guijarro, during his appearance at the Economy and Budget Commission of the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha to detail the budget of his department for the next financial year.
It is, as he has encrypted, 2,036 million euros which are included in the Demographic Impact Report, which brings together all the budget items for the next year aimed at stopping demographic loss. A figure that, in the words of the first vice president, demonstrates “the commitment of this Government to alleviate this trend that we are facing with all the resources at our disposal.”
Specifically, Martínez Guijarro has specified that this amount represents almost 25 percent of the spending ceiling of the Castilla-La Mancha Budget Bill for the next year, which has already begun its parliamentary processing and also translates into the 3.7 percent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the autonomous community, “well above what certain entities related to this type of policies claim.”
Delving into the figures, the first vice president detailed that the budget for active policies against depopulation for next year has increased by six percent compared to what was budgeted in 2024, allocating almost 115 million euros more. This means that almost 5.6 million euros daily for the comprehensive development of rural areas in the region and the guarantee of access to public services for the entire population regardless of place of residence.
At this point, Martínez Guijarro has highlighted the results left behind by the almost four years of the Law on Measures against Depopulation that has left us with a positive migration balance of 11,368 inhabitants in rural areas sparsely populated and at risk of depopulation, highlighting that 67 percent of the total has occurred in the provinces of Cuenca and Guadalajara, the most affected by the depopulation of Castilla-La Mancha.
URBAN AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
The first vice president has insisted that to continue advancing in the fight against depopulation and within the framework of the Regional Strategy against Depopulation, “we want to bring the magnifying glass closer to each of the 26 areas with which we are working” through the Urban and Rural Development Agendas that will serve to advance in each area indicated in the Law of measures against Depopulation, both the contents of this norm and the instrument derived from it, the Regional Strategy against Depopulation in Castilla-La Mancha 2021-2031.
In this sense, he recalled that months ago collaboration agreements were signed with the Castellano-Manchega Network of Rural Development (Recamder) that establishes the preparation of five first agendas as pilot experiences before the end of 2025 and continue with the development of a total of 26, which once launched “will serve as a guide to be able to influence those areas already identified in the Law on Measures against Depopulation with more concrete actions, and thus multiply the results.”
These first five ADUR, whose contracts we will sign this coming Thursday, will focus on the regions of the Sierra de Alcaraz in Albacete; Campo de Montiel in Ciudad Real; Central basin; Molina Lordship in Guadalajara; and the region of La Jara in Toledo.
PRESIDENCY BUDGET
Furthermore, Martínez Guijarro has detailed that the budget allocated to the structure of the Presidency of Castilla-La Mancha, on which the First Vice Presidency depends; the Second Vice Presidency and the Spokesperson’s Office, amounts to 26 million euros, which is barely 0.20 percent of total accounts than the regional Executive, “the same amount that has been allocated in recent years.”
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