Campo de Murcia, an area of low density of population in Southeastern Spain
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Abstract
Campo de Murcia corresponds to a traditionally dispersed settlement space, where the main productive activity has been rainfed agriculture (low productivity), due to the scarcity and randomness of rainfall. In the late 20th century, technical advances regarding groundwater and transferred waters from Tagus River enabled the irrigation and development of horticultural crops of great commercial interest. The farming, harvesting and commercialization, especially of horticultural products, generates a demand for labor immigration (North African origin). Warm climate and low price of land have boosted “resort” urban developments and the generation of residential immigration, especially of Europeans. The aim is to explain how despite labor and residential immigration during the first years of 21st century, this space hosts a low population density (30.47 inhabitants/km2), in contrast to the high density of Huerta de Murcia (884,02 inhab/km2). The sources of this work include the register of inhabitants of Regional Statistics Center of Murcia (CREM), local agrarian offices (OCA), water supply and purification data from companies EMUASA and ESAMUR, and an extensive field work with interviews to neighbors.