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The municipalities of Cantabria have undergone important demographic changes in recent years, with the result that the population is heterogeneously distributed throughout the territory. This distribution is influenced by the territorial vulnerability, based on demographic and socio-economic variables, which will be analysed in this paper due to the scarce research that currently exists in this area. To this end, a bibliographic search on the subject will be carried out, alphanumeric and cartographic data will be compiled on a municipal and population centre scales and the Moran's indexes will be calculated using Geographic Information Systems. Analysing the results obtained from tables and cartographic representations, it can be seen that the vulnerability of Cantabria is concentrated in the most rural and ageing municipalities, with the most developed ones having an almost non-existent vulnerability. Despite this, there are variables which should be highlighted, as they invert the results, giving vulnerability to the most populated municipalities and making the rural ones acquire favourable characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the history of the European Rural Development Policy and the LEADER (Liaisons entre activitiés de Developement de L'Economie Rural) Approach, the Regulation that heads them has experienced changes in order to provide greater support for the development of the most disadvantaged European rural areas. Currently, the EAFRD (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development) finances this aid, which is immersed the Programming Period 2014-2020 with certain changes compared to the previous one. Thus, this paper intends to analyze the role of LEADER in the current Programming Period and to know how the territorial distribution of it is. It will be possible to see how there are differences in the operation of the LEADER Approach and how demographic and socioeconomic variables continue to act as location factors of rural development investments in Extremadura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 25 years, a number of regional strategies are being applied in European rural areas, particularly in Extremadura. The aim of these territorial strategies is to activate the economic development of rural areas and reduce their differences with urban ones through economic diversification of the area of action with the implementation of co-financed projects by European funds, national administrations and local population. These aids are known as "Leader Method". In this paper, the rural development aids during the last programming period (2007-2013) in Extremadura are studied, respect to their distribution and management. This is through the Principal Component Analysis and Geographic Information Systems. It is studied the correlation between the variables that represent the different realities of the region: physical, demographic, socio-economic and those concern rural development aids. With this, the management of the aid will be determined and represented in the territorial model. It has become evident that these aids are benefiting the most dynamic areas and the more established sectors of the region. Furthermore, in other more depressed areas, the development of tourism and the rehabilitation of degraded historical and natural heritage are being carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]