Medidas para acercar la banca a la España Rural

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) published the definitive data from the municipal register in Spain as of January 1, 2021, which has confirmed that Spain lost resident population for the first time since 2016. And although in the last two decades Spain has grown by 6.2 million people, the population is concentrated in cities. The scarcity of jobs and opportunities, as well as limited access to infrastructure and basic services, have considerably affected small municipalities in rural Spain, where most of the population is elderly.

But Spain does not only face significant demographic challenges; it also faces the challenge of the digital divide, which refers to the difference in access to and knowledge of new technologies. However, the recent study by Funcas Report on the Spanish Banking Sector in a Changing Productivity Environment highlights that the process of financial digitalization has accelerated, especially among the older population since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The percentage of older digital clients increased by 27.7%. This is the age group that has most increased its level of digitalization during this period. The