Ancient Spanish village loses school, fears for its future as population dwindles

Alberto Toro, his current students and two former students of his who came to say good-bye, blend into a hug on the last day of school in the small Spanish village of Pitarque, Teruel, one of the least populated regions of the European Union, June 21, 2022. Two former students of his attended the last day of school together with the last four students to bid him farewell. "Closing the school is going to be negative for the village. Schools are the engine of change and development. When you close them down, you become stagnant," Toro says. REUTERS/Susana Vera

The tiny village of Pitarque at the foot of a mountain in Aragon in eastern Spain has survived for more than 1,300 years, but if depopulation continues at the current rate, it will be deserted by 2046, its residents warn.

The closure of the local school at the end of term last month, as two of its only four pupils moved away with their parents, may mark the point of no return in the village of 69 residents, which was founded by Muslim conquerors in the 8th century and in its heyday a century back had over 1,000 residents.