Changes

Besides, the maps showing the Population living in scattered villages (by province and by municipality), i.e. villages different to the capital town of the municipality, reveal a sharp contrast between the periphery [especially Galicia, western Asturias, the Basque Country (Euskadi/País Vasco), northwestern Navarre (Navarra), the district called Maestrazgo/Maestrat between the regions of Aragón and Valencia, as well as a long strip that goes from Alicante/Alacant to Cádiz], where more people live in scattered villages, and the Spanish hinterland, where lower figures are shown on both maps since more people live in the capital town of the municipality. In short, population distribution is more scattered along the coast, whether for geographical, historical or functional reasons. In the hinterland, by contrast, a greater concentration in terms of human settlements may be observed, yet certain differences shall be pointed out, i.e. human settlements are closer to each other although smaller in size in the Northern Plateau, whereas a smaller number of settlements that are more distant from each other and which have municipalities larger in size may be observed in the Southern Plateau.

Figures on the age structure of the population show a rather old population in Spain. The proportion of very old people, i.e. people over 85 years of age, on the total population in the country rises to 3.3%, what may be considered a very relevant figure. By contrast, the youngest age groups, i.e. children under 15, gather in total only 14.4% of the total population, what means that the age-sex pyramid is rather narrow at the bottom. A relevant spatial contrast may be observed throughout Spain on the maps depicting the age structure of the population by province. Age groups have been sorted in such a way as to allow disaggregation into the older categories. The map showing the proportion of people under 60 on the total amount of inhabitants reveals that this category rises to over 75% in southern, eastern and central Spain, whereas it drops to less than 65% in the Northwest. By contrast, maps showing the proportion of elderly people show the opposite picture as greater demographic ageing is registered in the Northwest than in the rest of the country.