Access to services in rural Spain

Abstract

This paper explores the differences in accessibility to services between rural and urban areas in EU countries. According to our analysis, rural areas in Spain have worse accessibility to services than their European counterparts, while the differences are not significant in the case of urban areas. The availability of information at the municipal level in Spain means a deficit in the accessibility to services of rural as opposed to urban municipalities may be documented within each region. There are also some idiosyncrasies in the remoteness and fiscal structures of rural municipalities that might partly explain this deficit.

This paper explores the differences in accessibility to services between rural and urban areas in EU countries. According to our analysis, rural areas in Spain have worse accessibility to services than their European counterparts, while the differences are not significant in the case of urban areas. The availability of information at the municipal level in Spain means a deficit in the accessibility to services of rural as opposed to urban municipalities may be documented within each region. There are also some idiosyncrasies in the remoteness and fiscal structures of rural municipalities that might partly explain this deficit.