Peter Nientied
‘La España Vacía’ - Huelva: Comarcas Sierra and Andévalo
We visited two of the six comarcas in Huelva that are experiencing population loss: Sierra and Andévalo. Within these two comarcas, the main towns are growing—Aracena in Sierra, and San Bartolomé de la Torre and Valverde del Camino in Andévalo, both relatively close to the city of Huelva—while smaller villages located farther from employment opportunities, education, or reliable transport connections to the main towns and Huelva city are shrinking.
Together, these two comarcas have lost about half of their population since 1950. Young people leave to study in the city and do not return, resulting in an aging population.
At first glance, depopulation is not very visible. The white villages scattered across the hills of Sierra and Andévalo look beautiful from a distance and appear well maintained. However, the smaller villages lack vitality: shops have closed, schools no longer have children, and medical posts have disappeared.
Comarca La Sierra
The Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche covers the northern part of the province of Huelva. It is a hilly area, with elevations reaching up to 1,000 metres, characterised by a network of rural centres and hamlets. The area includes the Sierra de Aracena Natural Park.
The Sierra de Aracena comarca has a population of approximately 38,000 spread across 2,999 square kilometres, resulting in a low population density of 12.7 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population is distributed among 28 municipalities. Demographic trends are uneven: the main town, Aracena, has grown—from 6,155 inhabitants in 1981 to 8,233 in 2021—while many smaller towns and villages have experienced significant population decline. Examples include Zufre, which decreased from 2,036 inhabitants in 1981 to 790 in 2021; Encinasola, from 2,654 to 1,326; and Cumbres de San Bartolomé, from 805 in 1980 to 369 in 2021. The closure of Cumbres’ gas station in recent years underscores the impact of this decline.
In the Sierra, small-scale agriculture—particularly pork production for jamón ibérico, as well as beef and sheep farming—along with service activities such as rural tourism, form the backbone of the local economy.
For population details if Sierra and Andévalo, see: Rodríguez-Lora, J.A. et al. (2022). Territories at Risk of Depopulation in Andalusia. Heritage Protection and Urban Territorial Planning in the North of Huelva. ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, 17(50), 11391. https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/ace.17.50.11391
Click to enlarge. Source: commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=117013701
Click, full screen with upper left arrow.
The Andévalo comarca is characterised by gently rolling peneplain hills, with elevations ranging between 200 and 400 metres. It has a population of approximately 37,870 (2022) spread across 2,553 square kilometres, resulting in an average density of about 15 inhabitants per square kilometre. However, this figure is strongly influenced by the growing municipalities of Valverde del Camino and San Bartolomé de la Torre, both located close to the city of Huelva and well connected by transport infrastructure. Excluding these two municipalities, the remaining area would have a population of roughly 22,000 across 2,280 square kilometres—less than 10 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Overall, the comarca has lost around half of its population since 1960. The decline reflects structural economic changes: the closure of mines, the industrialisation of agriculture, and the concentration of higher education in larger cities. Today, Andévalo’s economy is largely based on agriculture, along with wholesale and retail trade as its main service activities. Large-scale agricultural production, such as citrus farming, has developed primarily in the southern part of the comarca. Rural tourism remains limited because Andévalo has nice small towns, villages and landscapes, but lacks real attractions. People prefer neighbour Sierra.
Click to enlarge. Source: OpenStreetMap.org
