Empty corridors and only eight babies in their cribs. The maternity ward of the city of Gabrovo informs you about the drastic fall in the birth rate in Bulgaria.
“There aren’t many people of childbearing age here anymore. The boys are looking for jobs in the big cities or abroad,” pediatrician Bistra Kamburova, 68, told AFP.
Gabrovo, located at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, symbolizes the population decline in the poorest member state of the European Union.
Once known as the “Bulgarian Manchester” for its booming industry, the city has lost half of its population since 1985.
It’s a well-known story across the country.
Corruption, a lack of prospects and a spiral of political crises drove the disillusioned youth away.
The country’s fourth general election in 18 months, held in October, brought back a fragmented parliament where no party has been able to cobble together a strong coalition.
Bulgaria has lost a tenth of its population in a decade, making it one of the fastest shrinking countries in the world.
It now has a population of 6.52 million, compared to almost nine million in 1989. And a quarter of the population is 65 years of age or older.
– ‘It’s a desert’ –
Gabrovo’s industry employed thousands of workers during communism before bankruptcies and privatizations left the factories empty.
It is now the region with one of the lowest birth rates and the highest number of almost uninhabited villages in the country.
“I started working here in 1985. At that time the number of births was still quite high, around 1,000 babies a year,” says Kamburova, whose two adult sons are among those who left Gabrovo.
“But the factories worked, worked, worked,” she added.
Last year, only 263 babies were born in the Gabrovo region and cared for by the energetic pediatrician, who continues to work long after her retirement age for “pathetic pay”.
“The explanation is simple — no work, no young people, no babies,” midwife Mariana Varbanova said.
Many of those who stay want to leave.
“In Gabrovo you enjoy the peace and fresh air, but it’s a desert where you only meet older people,” said Hristiana Krasteva, a 23-year-old speech therapist who recently gave birth to a baby girl.
Her husband, who works as a carpenter, is preparing to leave for the UK in search of a better future for his family.
– ‘grandchildren for rent’ –
Before the first public school in Bulgaria, which was founded in Gabrovo in 1835, high school student Ivo Dimitrov also wants to set out for Western Europe to get “a high-quality education and new horizons.
“Chaos reigns here,” he said, denouncing the negligence of the political class.
Despite aid from Brussels since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 to support development, transport and tourism projects, Gabrovo needs fewer and fewer workers.
“It will take time to reverse the demographic trend,” analyst Adrian Nikolov from the Institute for Market Economics in Sofia told AFP.
Only 35 people live in the picturesque 17th-century village of Zaya, about 25 kilometers from Gabrovo.
Alongside the locals, retirees from France, Britain, Belgium, Russia, Italy and other countries have settled there, attracted by the cheaper cost of living.
There is no polling station and the grocery store in the village closed years ago for lack of customers.
“We decided to go shopping together. We get along somehow,” said Marin Krastev, a retired electrician whose daughter left for Germany a long time ago.
Once a week, the 77-year-old drives three other pensioners from the village to the nearest shop.
To brighten up their lives, in the summer the elderly joined a municipal program called Grandchildren For Rent, which brought young people to Zaya to discover village life.
“They enjoyed the rabbits, as well as the home-grown tomatoes and peppers,” smiled the head of the village’s cultural center, Boyana Boneva, 75.
