The sociodemographic changes in the women of the province of Granada. A challenge for the sustainable rural development

Following the massive rural exodus which marked the decades between the fifties and the seventies, the abandonment of rural communities has continued with a lesser intensity although with an increasingly prevailing female participation. This departure from the rural areas, together with changes in the demographic and social patterns of rural women through the last two decades of the 20th Century, might jeopardize the sustainable development of Granada's rural areas, which is much needed as a means to stop the loss of population which Granada is experiencing since the turn of the last century. This Article is focused on the analysis of sociodemographic data allowing the knowledge of both opportunities and limitations faced by rural women at the outset of the 21st Century, as well as the alternatives for women's contribution to develop their places of origin. The territorial base used in this article correspond to the municipal groupings formed for accession to financial support of the LEADER PLUS initiative and the PRODER A program.