The barely 60 inhabitants of the Zaragoza town of Villanueva de Jiloca are eager to receive Leire, the first baby born in the town after 30 years. The girl and her mother are still at the Calatayud Hospital waiting for their medical discharge.
The event has transcended the local sphere and Leire’s arrival in the world has been news in the media such as Radio La Comarca or Heraldo de Aragón.
The mayoress of Villanueva de Jiloca herself, Basilia Torres Cuadrado, has been in charge of announcing the good news, welcoming the little girl and sharing the news with her neighbors. “We’ve all been pregnant,” she said. And she has added: “It is very encouraging to see how the real census is adding instead of subtracting.”
It is not for less, since Villanueva is one of at least 11 municipalities in the Campo de Daroca region and the Jiloca area that do not have any registered residents under 15 years of age. That is to say, there are no children or generational change, the sign of many towns in the so-called emptied Spain. Throughout Aragon the figure rises to 60 municipalities without neighbors under that school age.
For this reason, the mayoress, belonging to Chunta Aragonesista, insists on the importance of increasing the child population in the towns and municipalities of emptied Spain as a solution to fight against depopulation. Among other issues, to be able to reopen the school. “We accept anyone who wants to come and live here, but what we really hope is that families arrive, that they bring youth,” said Basilia Torres Cuadrado.
And that’s how it happened with Leire’s parents, a couple from Extremadura, who, after living in Daroca, wanted to settle in a small town, with the aim of living “as if they were part of a big family.” They were looking for a well-connected enclave and to be close to towns such as Daroca, Zaragoza or Teruel and in Villanueva de Jiloca they found that.
The new parents bought a house and “shortly after they settled in they announced that they were pregnant,” according to the mayoress.
The entire municipality has turned to them throughout these months and the neighbors are eager to meet the little girl, who is still in the Calatayud Hospital with her family.
Basilia Torres points out that Villanueva de Jiloca does not currently have any initiative to attract new settlers, but highlights the recent award of a rehabilitated house to a family with two minor children. Likewise, after some time and some failed attempts, the town bar reopened in May of last year.
Without a doubt, it was an important event for the town, given the essentials of this social and meeting center for the daily life of its neighbors. The new ones in charge of managing it are Jorge and Silvia, of whom the mayoress, Basilia Torres, pointed out then that they have “great desire and enthusiasm to do things and to be part of the life of Villanueva and the region.”
Coinciding with the birth of Leire, Villanueva de Jiloca has recently inaugurated a mural, the work of local artist Javier Domingo Ballestín, with the motto “Equality, freedom and future”. It represents four generations of rural, working women with children and, according to the mayor, it is a tribute to all those women who work and live in the town, including Leire, something that “is difficult, but it is possible.”
According to the criteria of The Trust Project