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Accessibility to basic services in one of the most sparsely populated areas in Europe: the province of Teruel (Spain)
Author(s) -
Orcao Ana Isabel Escalona,
Cornago Carmen Díez
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2007.00749.x
Subject(s) - human settlement , geography , population , business , socioeconomics , demography , economics , archaeology , sociology
This paper analyses local differences in access to basic health services in the province of Teruel (Spain), one of the most sparsely populated areas in Europe. The demographic decline and the concentration of the remaining population in the main settlements has meant that there is a high degree of spatial fit of supply and demand and average aggregate accessibility is good. However, access costs are high for the scarce and aged population resident in the most remote villages and hamlets scattered over an extensive and tacitly ignored territory. In such circumstances the demands of the inhabitants for more attention from the public authorities, expressed through the ‘Teruel Exists’ movement, can be readily understood.