For decades Madrid was a demographic vacuum for Valladolid. Now it is Valladolid who takes away neighbors

For a simple matter of work, For decades Many Valladolid had no choice but to make their bags and move to Madrid. There are the companies. And good professional perspectives. Today things are different, how they reveal The latest data of the Castellanoleon City Council. The Telework expansion and the Communications improvement He has allowed not a few Pucelanos to return to his city without giving up his jobs in the capital and even turn the demographic tortilla: now it is Valladolid that grows at the expense of Madrid.

The data are of course eloquent.

What do the figures say? That for years the Castellanoleonese city endured a migratory balance with the clearly negative capital. Many more Pucelanos went to Madrid than Madrid arrived in Valladolid. If it follows The historical series From the municipal census it is proven that this favorable imbalance to Madrid dates back to at least 1997, with years in which the difference was brutal: in 2014, for example, Valladolid scored 736 casualties of Pucelans who made the bags to move to Madrid; The reverse tour (from Valladolid to Madrid) did only 305 people.

And is it like that? No. And that is the novelty. We know the change thanks to An analysis of The confidentialwhich has had access to updated data from the Valladolid City Council. They show how between 2022 and 2023 the migratory balance between the cities of Valladolid and Madrid experienced a turning point: if in 2022 the Pucelana city registered 799 casualties of neighbors to Madrid destination in front of 617 high in the opposite direction, in 2023 the photo was the opposite: it computed 765 high and 566 casualties. From the red numbers he went to a positive balance of 199 people with Madrid.

The trend was confirmed in 2024 with a new positive migratory balance. The Pucelano City Council scored 796 high from Madrid compared to 504 casualties from neighbors who moved to the state capital. Again a positive balance, of 292 people. In a matter of only two years Valladolid has therefore gone to drag a historical deficit in the exchange of population with Madrid to “win” 491 new registered at the expense of its southern neighbor.

That trend has coincided with the general growth of the Valladolid register, which has been gaining population for several years and is now located in 303,843 inhabitants according to The municipal censusthat It does not always coincide with that of the INE.

Is there more data? Yes. The general “picture” can be completed with more brushstrokes that help to understand the change. The turn in the migratory flow has also been found in the whole of the Madrid region, not only in its capital. After decades, moving in “Red Numbers” (in demographic terms), in 2023 Valladolid registered higher from new residents from the Madrid community than Low of Pucelanos who had moved to municipalities such as Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares, Leganés, Fuenlabrada, Getafe or Madrid itself. Between 2023 and 2024 in that sense a positive balance of 758 new registered.

At the end of 2024 The North of Castile I already pointed the change of tendency citing the statistics of the INE, although in its article it managed data until 2023 and provincial level, not exclusively of the municipality of Valladolid. What did they show? Something similar to what the Pucelano City Council register reflects. In 2023 they arrived at the Valladolid set 1,785 from the Community of Madrid, while they left the province 1,270 person to settle at some point in Madrid. Result: a positive balance of 515 people for Valladolid. It is not bad if one takes into account that the previous year (2022) the province had lost 115 people in favor of the Community of Madrid.

And what is the reason? Rather, we should talk about reasons, in the plural. When analyzing the change in trend there are those who speak of The expansion of teleworking After the pandemic or attractiveness of the Valladolid real estate market in front of the Madrid, which makes the purchase of housing much more assumed there than in Madrid. According to Idealista, the square meter costs in Valladolid 1,832 euros while in Madrid it is located in 5,467. Something similar occurs in the rental market: in the Pucelana city, the M2 regrets average to 8.9 euros in front of the 21.4that Madrid charges.

But … why this abrupt change? While it is true that COVID-19 marked a before and after in the implementation of teleworking in Spain and that the real estate market He has not stopped tense In recent years, both trends have not explained why the population flow between Valladolid and Madrid has experienced such a sharp change in such a short time. Nor why it has been accentuated in 2023. Hence, when the analysis of the phenomenon adds another determining factor: the improvement of transport between Valladolid and the Community of Madrid.

At the end of 2007 The line was released High speed Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid, which made it possible to arrive from Valladolid to Madrid in less than 60 minutes, instead of the more than two hours that it has the same route by car. Since then the service It has improved In medium distance services until, today, A wide grill of frequencies in birds Ave, Avant, MD, Alvia or Avlo capable of going from Valladolid to Chamartín in 54 minutes. The key in recent years has been nevertheless another: the price.

What has changed? In 2019, take the train daily to go to Madrid from Valladolid demanded to disburse hundreds of euros Every month. Today the situation is different. Regular users have benefited from Free bonds MD and a 50% discount For recurring travelers of the Avant trains. In January The Council of Ministers agreed to maintain at least until June 30 the direct aid to the transport of travelers for frequent customers of nearby, rodalies and conventional MD, with “free fertilizers”. The Avant offers a 50% reduction in the titles Multiviaje For every year. The Junta de Castilla y León too has maintained the 25% bonus For service travelers.

Do many people use it? Today the AVE users association calculates that around 3,500 Valladolid They move every day by train from Valladolid to Madrid to work. “The number of people who use the train daily to go to Madrid is increasing. This is not only valid that decide Carlos Perfect points outspokesman for the association, in statements to The North of Castile. In fact there are users who They already claim Strengthen the line with a new Avant.

Are there more factors at stake? Yes. In addition to the improvement of communications, the expansion of teleworking and the inherent advantages to live in a medium city such as Valladolid (especially the price of housing), there are those who quote other factors involved in the equation. For example the interest shown by Valladolid of Companies Like PWC.

The truth is that the Pucelana city is not the only one that has been favored by the new scenario and the improvement of rail transport. The confidential appointment Data from the Madrid City Council showing a loss of growing population also towards Segovia, Zamora, Palencia or Salamanca. There an employee with the capacity to work remote every day for a Madrid company (or at least part of their work week) find the possibility of finding homes at prices that, as, as He recognized a family Valladolid to the newspaper, “we wouldn’t even smell in Madrid.”

Images | Jorge Fraganillo (Flickr) and Andre Ribeirinho (Flickr)

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