Moralina

Moralina, Spain
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Castile and León
Province	Zamora
Municipality	Moralina
Government
• Mayor	Edesio Cardeñosa (PSOE)
Area
• Total	21 km2 (8 sq mi)
Elevation	758 m (2,487 ft)
Population  (2004)
• Total	346
• Density	16.5/km2 (43/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Website	http://www.moralina.com/

Moralina (also called Moralina de Sayago) is a municipality located in the province of Zamora, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 346 inhabitants. It's 42 km (26 miles) away from the city of Zamora. The village belongs to the Sayago county, and participates in the association Sayagua, which supplies the water and the recycling system in the whole county, as the municipies are too small and weak to maintain this kind of services by themselves.

The dominating landform in the area is the peneplain, with some streams eroding the surface in their path to the arribe, the canyon located at the east of the municipality. There are two old dehesas (an Iberian traditional form of pasturelands) called "Trabanquina" and "Requejo". Both, as many in this county, were sold to the municipalities between XVIII and XIX centuries, and distributed among the inhabitants. That has desfigured the characteristics of both dehesas, changing the type of holding from a large estate to a small holding.

The economy is based in agriculture and husbandry (specially cows). Within last few years rural tourism has provided a new and hopeful source of income since the surrounding areas were declared as a natural reserve, called Parque Natural Arribes del Duero. This declaration was justified by the high ecological value of the river Duero canyons (called "Arribes" in Sayago).

Although is suffering the effects of the general depopulation that involves the rural areas of the province, it's one of the most actives villages in the Sayago county. One example of this activity is the craft fair that takes place on every 15th August. Statistics show the mentioned depopulation since the rural flight started in Spain in the 60's: