https://www.hoy.es/opinion/caceres-ciudad-amenazada-2021111500033...

https://www.hoy.es/opinion/caceres-ciudad-amenazada-20211115000334-ntvo.html

Some interesting facts and point of view from JULIAN MORA ALISEDA
Julian is a Professor of Geography at the University of Extremadura (UEX). Degree in Geography, Diploma in Environmental Law, Master in Urban Planning (among others).Founder and president of several associations and working groups for the development of Extremadura.Reference in land-use planning and environmental development processes.Extensive academic and private sector experience (hydrocarbon sector in Latin America).He is a well known and respected voice in Caceres.

incase the link doesnt work

"Cáceres, a city under threatIt is a gloomy image to see how thousands of young people have left the city, and the region, after a long period of training and/or qualification, to leave production and reproduction in distant places, with so much unexploited territory here.JULIAN MORA ALISEDAMonday, 15 November 2021, 08:17 amThe municipality of Cáceres, possessing the largest surface area in Spain (1,750 square kilometres) and more than the size of 6 countries, including some as rich as San Marino or Liechtenstein, nevertheless, despite this enormous territorial potential, in recent years it has been experiencing a very worrying economic and, therefore, social and demographic situation, bordering on the inability to modify the regressive processes that will allow it to maintain itself in the future.I have been warning about this scenario for some time without anyone paying much attention to me, judging by the fulfilment of my projections, but the data, even if they try to hide or mask it, eventually emerge and show the reality in all its harshness. And I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that what I have succinctly analysed in this article is only the tip of the iceberg, because if nothing changes radically, we are on the verge of a dramatic picture.Cáceres is the second most populous city in Extremadura, with 96,255 inhabitants, home to 24.6% of the entire provincial population and, as a result of being the capital, it has a series of added advantages in terms of the provision of facilities and services, as we shall see below. However, for the first time in its historical evolution, this city is facing an unprecedented negative natural increase (-1.46%), the result of a higher number of deaths (8.23%) than births (6.77%).All of this in turn is the result of a situation derived from the emigration process of young people from Cáceres over the last decade, faced with the absence of employment options to create a future for themselves. It is a gloomy image to see how thousands of young people have left the city, and also the region, after a long period of training and/or qualification, to leave production and reproduction in distant places, with so much unexploited territory here. A few days ago I went out for a few drinks with friends in the centre of Cáceres and I met two students from different graduating classes who told me that they are working in Madrid and Seville, respectively, fortunately as professionals in their field and not in precarious jobs, and that they are no longer thinking of returning, seeing that they have no future here unless they "prepare for a civil service exam".But continuing with the socio-economic issue, it must be said that the outlook is devastating. At the moment in Cáceres there are 14,000 people under the age of 16 (non-working population) and more than 17,000 over the age of 65 (retired). But the worst will be in three decades' time, when some 21,000 inhabitants will have retired and only 8,000 will have been born, i.e. almost three times as many new pensioners as the replacement population. It is simply an unsustainable population situation, although many continue to insist on turning a blind eye to the reality that is devouring us as a city and as a society.Cáceres is a bureaucratised city due to its civil servant macrocephaly, where the main economic weight is due to the weight of the Public Administrations (University, institutions dependent on the Regional Government of Extremadura, Provincial Council, hospitals, Ministry of Defence centres, ministerial sub-delegations, etc.) which largely pulls on the other sectors, especially the hotel and catering, commerce and health sectors. To this must be added the weight of tourism, which is still incipient but has a long way to go.However, I insist on the seriousness of the situation, given that in the last decade the number of companies in the industrial sector has fallen by 20%, with the implications for employment; at the same time and with the same intensity, the commercial sector is collapsing, having closed 1 out of every 5 establishments; and construction shows the same trajectory having lost almost another 20% of licences in the same period.This explains why Cáceres in recent times has only grown by an average of 33 inhabitants per year, i.e. enough population to occupy 8 dwellings. Almost all of them are people from nearby villages (Malpartida de Cáceres, El Casar, etc.) who have moved, often temporarily, so that their children can continue their studies without having to travel.As a result of all of the above, we find ourselves with a stock of 7,500 empty homes in the city of Cáceres, which represents 15% of the total number of homes built, which will increase in the near future if the trend in employment (20% unemployment) is not broken and if we do not at least manage to fix the population that is in the process of migrating (preparing their suitcases).Consequently, after this concise examination, it is clear that Cáceres needs an urgent change in its productive structure in order to avoid becoming a doubly old and regressive city: that of its historic centre and that of its population. The former is made of stone and will resist, as it has done so far, unscathed by adversity; the latter has begun, if no one remedies the situation, a path of no return towards inexorable decrepitude."