AUC Geographica 39 1. Introduction 1 his article reviews the impact of international immi- gration to rural Catalonia, with a particular focus on women’s immigration, taking into account the changes that have had both positive and negative impacts on the conditions for social reproduction in its towns and villag- es. Our analysis is contextualized within the changes in the economic base of rural areas, namely, deagrarianiza- tion and lack of opportunities, but also the development of a service sector linked to rural tourism, economic diversiication and the emergence of agro-transforma- tion projects that revitalize declining agricultural sectors. We take into account the negative impact on towns and villages of the long-standing demographic dynamics of depopulation, including masculinization, aging or single- ness, which threaten the capacity of rural communities to face the future; but we also explore the demographic changes that have had a positive efect on rural areas, and which have also attracted some of the million immigrants who have arrived in Catalonia in the last two decades. 2 1 his paper presents some of the results of a study that ended in 2011, he migration of foreign women to rural Catalonia in the context of economic and social transformation in local communities (ARAF1 00047), led by Montserrat Soronellas with the participa- tion of the following researchers: Yolanda Bodoque, Gemma Casal and Ramona Torrens, from the Department of Anthropology, Phi- losophy and Social Work at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili; and Jor- di Blay and Santiago Roquer, from the Department of Geography of the same university. 2 Between 2000 and 2010 the population in Catalonia grew by 1,250,382 inhabitants, of whom 38,884 were foreigners living he objectives of our research include the character- ization of the foreign population arriving in the small municipalities, their migration routes, their expectations and, in particular, the distinctive features of the process of incorporation into an environment with very diferent social, economic and cultural aspects from those in the urban environments that, as the main destinations for immigrant populations, have been studied much more widely. In analyzing the processes of incorporation into town and village communities, we questioned the widely held presumption that becoming part of a small commu- nity is easier and more advantageous for the immigrant population than in a large city. his question is addressed in the present paper. 2. Methodological notes To meet our research objectives, we conducted a demographic analysis of the rural population of Catalonia in rural towns and villages, and represented 10.7% of the rural population (in the rest of Catalonia the foreign population accounted for 19.8% of the total). In 2000 the population over the age of 65 represented 24% of the rural population, while those below the age of 20 accounted for only 16.8%, resulting in an aging index of 157 (much higher than the igure of 88.2 for the rest of Catalonia). By 2010 the aging index igure had fallen back to 118. he same cannot be said for the male-female ratio, which stood at 95.6 women to every 100 men in 2000 (when the average across Catalonia was 101.3), and had fallen to 92.4 women to every 100 men by 2010, essentially because foreign immigration into rural areas was predominantly male. THE MIGRATION OF FOREIGN WOMEN TO RURAL CATALONIA (SPAIN) IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES 1 MONTSERRAT SORONELLAS MASDEU, YOLANDA BODOQUE PUERTA, RAMONA TORRENS BONET Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work, Spain ABSTRACT This article analyzes the impact of the arrival of immigrants to Catalan rural areas from a gender perspective. We speciically observed the female migration routes to municipalities experiencing problems in ensuring the reproduction of their communities (depopulation, masculinization, aging, singleness, economic marginality), and suggest that these women make a remarkable contribution to their develop- ment and the revival of some of the human capital and labor lost in the process of decline that has characterized rural areas throughout the twentieth century. We noted the demographic trends and characteristics of immigration to rural areas, together with their migratory routes, expectations and the distinguishing factors of their incorporation into such a speciic social, economic and cultural environment. Unlike male immigrants to these areas, who are usually employed in the primary sector, women work mainly in the service sector (hotels and tourism), in the agro-processing industry and above all, in work related to the reproductive sphere: care and attention of the aging population who because of the rural exodus, frequently lack either the family or institutional context to meet their care needs. We understand that the foreign women help to re-feminize these communities and become essential economic and social agents. Keywords: international migration, female migration, new rurality, attention and care, Catalonia (Spain) http://dx.doi.org/10.14712/23361980.2014.13 Masdeu, M. S. – Puerta, Y. B. – Bonet, R. T. (2014): The migration of foreign women to rural Catalonia (Spain) in the context of economic and social transformation in local communities AUC Geographica, 49, No. 2, pp. 39–48