Moralina
Encyclopedia
Moralina is a municipality located in the province of Zamora
, Castile and León
, Spain
. According to the 2004 census
(INE
), the municipality has a population of 346 inhabitants. It's 42 km (26.1 mi) away from the city of Zamora
. The village belongs to the Sayago
county or comarca
, and participates in the association Sayagua, which supplies the water and the recycling system in the whole county, as the municipies are too small and weak to maintain this kind of services by themselves.
The dominating landform in the area is the peneplain
, with some streams eroding the surface in their path to the arribe, the canyon located at the east of the municipality. There are two old dehesas
(an Iberian traditional form of pasturelands) called "Trabanquina" and "Requejo". Both, as many in this county, were sold to the municipalities between XVIII and XIX centuries, and distributed among the inhabitants. That has desfigured the characteristics of both dehesas, changing the type of holding from a large estate to a small holding.
The economy is based in agriculture and husbandry (especially cows and sheep). Within last few years rural tourism
has provided a new and hopeful source of income since the surrounding areas were declared as a natural reserve, called Parque Natural Arribes del Duero. This declaration was justified by the high ecological value of the river Duero canyons (called "Arribes" in Sayago).
Although is suffering the effects of the general depopulation that involves the rural areas of the province, it's one of the most actives villages in the Sayago county. One example of this activity is the craft fair that takes place on every 15th August. Statistics show the mentioned depopulation since the rural flight
started in Spain in the 1960s:
Zamora (province)
Zamora is a Spanish province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.The present-day province of Zamora province was one of three provinces formed from the former Kingdom of León in 1833, when Spain was re-organised into 49 provinces.It is bordered by...
, Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. According to the 2004 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
(INE
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain)
The National Institute of Statistics is the official organisation in Spain that collects statistics about demography, economy, and Spanish society. Every 10 years, this organisation conducts a national census. The last census took place in 2001....
), the municipality has a population of 346 inhabitants. It's 42 km (26.1 mi) away from the city of Zamora
Zamora, Spain
Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier...
. The village belongs to the Sayago
Sayago
Sayago is a comarca in the province of Zamora, central Spain.- Geography :The comarca is located at the southwest of the Zamora province. The main geographical characteristic is the isolation caused by the Duero and Tormes rivers canyons...
county or comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...
, and participates in the association Sayagua, which supplies the water and the recycling system in the whole county, as the municipies are too small and weak to maintain this kind of services by themselves.
The dominating landform in the area is the peneplain
Peneplain
A peneplain is a low-relief plain representing the final stage of fluvial erosion during times of extended tectonic stability. The existence of peneplains, and peneplanation as a geomorphological process, is not without controversy, due to a lack of contemporary examples and uncertainty in...
, with some streams eroding the surface in their path to the arribe, the canyon located at the east of the municipality. There are two old dehesas
Dehesa (pastoral management)
Dehesa is a type of wooded pastureland found in the Iberian peninsula, used for the grazing of livestock...
(an Iberian traditional form of pasturelands) called "Trabanquina" and "Requejo". Both, as many in this county, were sold to the municipalities between XVIII and XIX centuries, and distributed among the inhabitants. That has desfigured the characteristics of both dehesas, changing the type of holding from a large estate to a small holding.
The economy is based in agriculture and husbandry (especially cows and sheep). Within last few years rural tourism
Rural tourism
Rural tourism focuses on participating in a rural lifestyle. It can be a variant of ecotourism. Any village can be a tourist attraction, and many villagers are very hospitable. Agriculture is becoming highly mechanized and therefore requires less manual labor...
has provided a new and hopeful source of income since the surrounding areas were declared as a natural reserve, called Parque Natural Arribes del Duero. This declaration was justified by the high ecological value of the river Duero canyons (called "Arribes" in Sayago).
Although is suffering the effects of the general depopulation that involves the rural areas of the province, it's one of the most actives villages in the Sayago county. One example of this activity is the craft fair that takes place on every 15th August. Statistics show the mentioned depopulation since the rural flight
Rural flight
Rural flight is a term used to describe the migratory patterns of peoples from rural areas into urban areas.In modern times, it often occurs in a region following the industrialization of agriculture when fewer people are needed to bring the same amount of agricultural output to market and related...
started in Spain in the 1960s: