Aldeias de montanha: os problemas, as perspetivas e as propostas, vistos desde as serras da Aboboreira, Marão e Montemuro, no Noroeste de Portugal

Abstract

With few exceptions, villages that remain at a location marked by the peripheral conditions and (very) low density are marked by a context of depopulation, despite some cases, here and there, of more or less successful examples in attracting neo rural inhabitants or visitors. It is in this context that, in a mountain space, perhaps ultra-peripheral and of very low density that, in the case of the villages of Marão, Aboboreira and Montemuro villages, work has been carried on, aiming to provide support to policy options. In this paper we present this work and in particular its methodology, hoping to contribute to a debate which started long time ago on the advantages of establishing options and being selective in the investments for the maintenance and revitalization of some key points that allow to maintain the population and the socially advantageous use of large spaces.