Why So Few People Live In This HUGE Area In The Middle Of Spain

Listen to the companion podcast episode here: https://linktr.ee/geographyiseverything Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geographybygeoff/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@geographybygeoff Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/geography-is-everything Linktree for everything: https://linktr.ee/geographybygeoff Spain is the fourth largest country in the European Union by population with more than 48 million people. Despite this, the vast majority of these people live either within the Madrid metropolitan area or within cities on the coast. This leaves a rather large ring in the middle of Spain with very few people relative to its size. So why does Spain have this "empty ring" at all? Rome map by Cristiano64 - Lavoro proprio, self-made, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2452303 Dehesa image by Ardo Beltz - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=749372 Stock footage is acquired from www.storyblocks.com. Animation support provided by DH Designs (needahittman.com)