The environmental dimension in the constitution of new social groups in an extremely depopulated rural area of Spain (Soria)

The geographical literature in the analysis of relations between society and environment present a growing importance in the study of European rural areas. However, one aspect with little contributions in this area is the relevance of environmental factors in the change of position between traditional and new social groups from a geographic perspective. The relevance of the environmental dimension in the constitution of new social groups in depopulated rural areas is given a secondary importance in the small amount of literature that treats this topic. The purpose of this paper is to discuss from this perspective the value given to environmental factors by the different fractions of the new middle class located in the same depopulated rural area. The case study is the Soria province in Spain, an area with extreme problems of depopulation and low density in the context of Spain and the European Union.