Cardeñajimeno is a small town in the Alfoz de Burgos region, in Castilla y León, where just under 1,200 residents live. Its city council is not willing to let that figure drop and has decided to tackle the challenge of depopulation by making it as easy as possible for its inhabitants, especially the elderly. As? Cooking for them and bringing food to their doorstep.
Whatever it takes to escape from an “emptied Spain” that has been expanding its footprint across the peninsula for decades, with the challenge that that entails.
Objective: establish population. Spain may be moving in record population numbers, with 49.4 million registered as of October 1, 2025, but that does not mean that the entire territory is going through its best demographic moment. On the contrary. The ‘record Spain’ also hides an ’emptied Spain’ that has spent decades spreading its footprint across the peninsula, feeding on municipalities that have been gradually depopulated.
The Spanish Rural Development Network (REDR) warned this before the pandemic when it recalled that in a matter of two decades the number of towns with less than one hundred neighbors had increased by 60%. A similar message was sent by the Consello de Contas de Galicia in 2024, recalling that a hundred towns in the region face the risk of becoming ghost towns.
How to avoid it? That’s the million dollar question. In an attempt to fix the population and not swell the map of emptied Spain, over the last few years the administrations have racked their brains looking for solutions.
Some offer financial aid to attract new residents. There are city councils that are taking over local businesses (gas stations or grocery stores) to prevent their neighbors from being left without basic services. And not long ago we even told you about a remote town in the province of Soria that offered a house and business in an attempt to attract new blood.
Making it easy. In Cardeñajimeno (province of Burgos), they have gone one step further to make it as easy as possible for its inhabitants and prevent the elderly from packing their bags to move to larger towns. As? Taking care of your diet. The news has been advanced Burgos Connectwhich on Saturday revealed that two towns in the region will “pay for food” to their elders to stop the depopulation that is shaking part of the community.
“Encourage permanence”. The towns in question are those that make up the municipality of Burgos: Cardeñajimeno and San Medel. A few days ago, its Town Council launched a tender to find professionals interested in providing a “catering service to elderly people” residing in the town.
The goal? “Promote the elderly person’s permanence in their usual environment and avoid depopulation.” In other words, provide the necessary means so that no elderly person from Cardeñajimeno or San Medel is forced to move to Burgos or another larger town in search of comforts.
But… Is it necessary? The case of Cardeñajimeno is interesting because it shows that rural Spain not only faces the challenge of depopulation, it also deals with aging. Although the situation of the town is far from being critical (the INE counts 1,185 registered residents there, below the 1,205 in 2022, but significantly above those it registered two decades ago), it does not escape the trend in the rest of Spain. 20% of its population is over 60 years old and dozens of octogenarians and nonagenarians reside in the town.
“Nutritional well-being”. With the new service, the City Council wants to “provide nutritional and physical well-being to all those elderly who, given their special situation, require it.” To achieve this, it even contemplates that the company prepares “different diets” adapted to users with special needs. For example, diabetics or people who need crushed food.
The base tender budget is 16,500 euros for one year, with a maximum Price per menu of 9.6 euros, but the document also clarifies that the final price will depend on the acceptance of the service, its users and how much food they request. On the State contracting platform the estimated budget is 30,000. Similar benefits are already offered in other locations.
Image | Wikipedia
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