Return to the rural: Ambivalent place attachment among youth in rural Spain

Although the Spanish rural areas continue to face significant challenges of depopulation and demographic imbalances due to the selective exodus of young people, there has been a recent increase in return migration, where these young people choose to return to their places of origin after training and living in urban environments. This study aims to explore these return processes, with a focus on the meanings of place that shape the affective ties to rural territories. A qualitative methodology, based on 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews, was employed in two study areas, corresponding to rural mountain regions in central and northern Spain. The results reveal important ambivalences in the attachment to place among young returnees. While they associate the return with positive meanings of rurality, primarily linked to the natural environment and the community fabric, they also describe negative meanings related to perceptions of deprivation. These meanings are framed within the symbolic hierarchy typical of urban normative societies and are accentuated in the case of returnees, due to the expectations generated during their time in urban environments. • Analyzes the place attachment of rural youth to their territories after return. • Identifies a positive attachment to rural areas, linked to community and the natural environment. • Highlights affective ambivalences, influenced by urban expectations and the lack of socioeconomic dynamism and depopulation. • Reveals how mobility between rural and urban areas shapes identity and sense of belonging. • Emphasizes the potential of rural areas for social, environmental, and economic sustainability.