The Pobles Abandonats project has carried out an exhaustive inventory covering Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, and Andorra, totaling nearly 1,500 analyzed settlements. Within the Lleida province, the regions with the highest presence of these spaces are Pallars Jussà, with 130 settlements, followed by Alt Urgell (108), Pallars Sobirà (92), Noguera (79), and Segarra (53).
According to the collected data, 68% of the inventoried settlements remain active despite having fewer than 30 inhabitants. Conversely, 20% are in a state of total abandonment, while the remaining 12% are in the process of recovery or have seasonal uses. The Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs (IEI) has presented an exhibition to disseminate these results, which are based on seven years of research on the poblesabandonats.cat portal.
The exhibition presents these locations as open-air laboratories to study land occupation, resource management, and the relationships between the rural world and urban centers. The ultimate goal is to gain useful knowledge to face current challenges against depopulation. The project will have a new presentation on October 1st in Barcelona during an international congress.
