As it has been addressed before, this selection is based on the relative Rurality Map obtained in the former chapter (Fig. 44). This map represents the Basque Country Autonomous Community in terms of rurality from a transdisciplinary point of view. It considers economic, population, employment, density of housing and land coverings. It overcomes administrative boundaries, and can be updated as new statistical data is created.
Figure 44. Relative Rurality Map. The darker orange areas represent higher relative rurality and vice versa.
From this map, it is necessary to select s smaller area for the case study.
It has to be an area that lies on the same climatic area, and of high relative rurality.
It has been addressed in the “Previous considerations” (Fig.41) the basic climatic areas of the Basque Country, they are also very similar to the main watersheds.
The Relative Rurality Map is transformed in order to obtain areas considered rural. These areas must be municipalities with a relative rurality scale number on the top quartile of the scale. This is achieved by selecting the municipalities with more that 50% of their surface with a relative rurality on the top quartile.
To do this, there are two steps: Firstly, the RRM (Relative Rurality Map) has to be transformed into a map that only shows areas with a relative rurality on the top quartile of the scale (Fig.45).
Figure 45. Areas of the Basque Country on the top quartile of the Relative Rurality Scale.
Secondly, those areas are contrasted with the municipalities map, and they are selected only those that forms more that 50% of the surface of each municipality. The resulting map represents the municipalities that could be chosen as case study areas for this part of the work, as they follow the rules established (over 50% of their surface on the top quartile of the Relative Rurality Scale). These municipalities can be checked in Figure 46.
Figure 46. Municipalities with over 50% of their surface on the top quartile of the Relative Rurality Scale.
The areas shown in Figure 46 contain the full extension of municipalities that meet the rules established. The next step in order to select the area is related to the Gross Domestic Product per capita and the availability of data.
As it has been explained in the “Methods: Assumptions”, the GDP per capita is takes as a measure of development. This indicator is obtained from the Eustat webpage, and it is a table that can be consulted in Annex II.
The municipalities map is linked to the GDP per capita by municipality, and visualised for the whole Basque Country (Figure 47). This link is made by linking the Eustat code of each municipality (also postcode).
This way the data from the tables can be linked to the attribute table data of the vector layer of the municipalities.
Figure 47. GDP per capita for the Municipalities of the Basque Country.
This map (Fig.47) has to be crossed to the map containing only the municipalities that have over 50% of their surface on the top quartile of the Relative Rurality Scale. The result can be checked in Figure 48.
Figure 48. GDP per capita of considered municipalities (warmer colours higher GDP per capita)
Taking into account the data availability, it was established that the Historic Territory of Gipuzkoa was best suited to select the case study area from as it offered the cadastral parcels and information for free access at the moment of the study. Figure 49 shows the GDP per capita of the municipalities of Gipuzkoa suitable for this study.
Figure 49. GDP per capita of considered municipalities of Gipuzkoa.
It can be appreciated in Figure 49 the municipalities of Gipuzkoa that have over 50% of their surface on the top quartile of the Relative Rurality scale, and it can be appreciated the differences on their GDP per capita.
In order to select an area that can serve the purpose of this chapter, it has been decided that the north area suits best the requirements for the case study area, this is, a generally higher GDP per capita in a continuous area.
Thus, the chosen municipalities are the following: Getaria, Aia, Errezil, Larraul, Alkiza, Bidania-Goiatz, and Beizama. The location of each one of them can be consulted on Figure 50.
Figure 50. Selected municipalities for the case study area.
These limits of the municipalities act as boundaries for all analysis for this part of the work.
Among the municipalities selected there is Getaria, which has a rather high scale of population employed in the agro-fisheries sector. This is not only due to the agricultural sector but mainly because of its fishing industry and tradition. Getaria has an urban core linked to the port area, but it also has a more rural area, lately related to the production of txakoli (local white wine).
In the following analysis it will be shown how despite the fishing influence and the urban character of the urban core of this municipality, there is a rural area worth analysing.
The case of Aia is more similar to the rest of the area as it is an interior municipality. It has a Natural Park of “Peñas de Aia”, which is important in terms of access to nature and cultural heritage of the surroundings.
The rest of the municipalities lie towards the south, and tend to have in the lowest parts of their valleys industrial areas, as the rest of the Historic Territory. Further analysis will show more detailed characteristics of these areas.