Great interactive map of population density in Europe. Striking how empty Spain is buff.ly/2FGMVbM 
An interesting explainer on the Spanish settlement pattern citylab.com/life/2018/02/t…
And here yet another very interesting paper by @OtoPeralias tracing this settlement pattern to medieval times ersa.org/wp-content/upl…
This table in the citylab article linked above is key.
The map is by @danc00ks0n (great work!) and there's a nice write-up by @JonnElledge here: citymetric.com/fabric/nine-th…
@danc00ks0n @JonnElledge It seems that in a 2011 European map of population density, one can still see the shadow of the German Reich.
@danc00ks0n @JonnElledge Here's one by Eurostat with a different colour scheme that looks, well, exactly similar. It is based on the same underlying data and methodology.
ec.europa.eu/eurostat/stati…
ec.europa.eu/eurostat/stati…
@danc00ks0n @JonnElledge This pattern cannot be explained by a higher share of mountain areas. Italy has a higher share of mountains areas than Spain. ec.europa.eu/regional_polic…
@danc00ks0n @JonnElledge A good way to understand the difference between Spain and other countries is to zoom in on Madrid (7 mio in larger urban area) and Rome (4 mio). The population of Madrid is much more packed in a much smaller area.
Another amazing interactive map of population density in 3D: pudding.cool/2018/10/city_3…
The difference between Rome and Barcelona is even more striking.
Spain really is an outlier. Here's a scatterplot plotting the data in the table above in the thread. Spanish urban areas are much denser than in other countries, while the countryside is emptier.
