THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ANALYSE THE EFFECT THAT THE ECONOMIC CRISIS THAT BEGAN IN 2008 HAS ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION OF FOREIGN ORIGIN IN RURAL AREAS. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO ESTABLISH THE TERRITORIAL AND SOCIAL SCENARIOS AND INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICES THAT ARE MOST FAVORABLE TO THE ROOTING OF THIS POPULATION, STRATEGIC TO GUARANTEE THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF RURAL AREAS THAT SUFFER PROLONGED PROCESSES OF DEPOPULATION AND AGING. THE TERRITORIAL CONTEXT IN WHICH THE RESEARCH IS CARRIED OUT IS THE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY OF CASTILE AND LEON, WHICH HAS SEVERAL IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE IT AN EXCELLENT CASE STUDY: A LARGE RURAL POPULATION, A HEIGHTENED POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL INTEREST IN ENSURING THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF RURAL AREAS, AND CONSIDERABLE INTERNAL DIVERSITY IN TERMS OF THE TYPES OF SETTLEMENTS AND RURAL LANDSCAPES. THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY COMBINES THE ANALYSIS OF STATISTICAL AND DOCUMENTARY SOURCES WITH THE CONDUCT OF IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH IMMIGRANT POPULATION RESIDING IN RURAL AREAS, POLITICAL LEADERS OF MUNICIPALITIES AND KEY INFORMANTS IN IMMIGRANT AND PRO-IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS IN THE REGIONAL AREA. THE AIM IS TO GENERATE RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE AT THE SCIENTIFIC AND ACADEMIC LEVEL, AND THUS CONTRAST WITH OBSERVATIONS MADE IN OTHER NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TERRITORIAL CONTEXTS, AS WELL AS AT THE INSTITUTIONAL AND CITIZEN LEVEL, AS THEY ARE OF INTEREST TO THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE RURAL ENVIRONMENT AND IN THE SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION.
Segovia Province, Spain