The PSOE of Teruel organized this Saturday an event focused on the demographic challenge and the future of rural municipalities, in which the general secretary for the Demographic Challenge of the Government of Spain, Paco Boya, the socialist candidate for the Congress for Teruel, Herminio Sancho, and the candidate for the Senate, María José Villalba, took part.
Before the meeting began, Boya highlighted the effects of the policies implemented by the executive of Pedro Sánchez to curb population loss, with special attention to provinces such as Teruel, Cuenca and Soria, where depopulation has been especially severe.
"During these years, well, we have put in place a plan that has worked, that has had results, that are objective results," he said. The person responsible for the Demographic Challenge also outlined the goals of the so-called Plan 30, which seeks to ensure that residents of rural areas can have access to basic services in a maximum of 30 minutes of travel.
As he indicated, the purpose is to raise the quality of life of those who live in towns and guarantee "that right to remain in the territory".
Herminio Sancho emphasized the investments and actions of the Government of Spain in the province of Teruel, including the expansion of digital connectivity, aid for the operation of businesses, the use of European recovery funds, and social measures.
The Congress candidate placed particular emphasis on protecting the rural school and criticized that the regional governments of the Partido Popular did not attend the sectoral meeting of the past 4 November, convened to analyze the actions aimed at strengthening education in municipalities of smaller size.
PUBLIC SERVICES AND POLITICAL MODELS
Sancho argued that ensuring access to education and to all public services is key to guaranteeing equal opportunities to those who live in rural areas.
For her part, the Senate candidate, María José Villalba, recalled that the fight against depopulation began to take up a priority position on the agenda of the Government of Spain as of 2018.
Villalba has also highlighted the determining role of public services so that municipalities remain alive and has set the socialist approach against that of the current Aragonese Executive of PP and Vox, which he has accused of promoting decisions that make it difficult for the population to remain in the rural environment, “cutting basic services for citizens”.
The meeting, held at the Casa del Pueblo of the PSOE in Teruel, has also served to gather firsthand the concerns and demands of the municipalities in the province and to reaffirm the socialist commitment to the future of the rural environment.