Spatial analysis of the territorial vulnerability of the cantabrian municipalities from the Moran’s Index

Abstract

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-eco-nomic variables, which will be analysed in this paper due to the scarce research that currently ex-ists in this area. To this end, a bibliographic search on the subject will be carried out, alphanumer-ic 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.