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In 1974, Valdezcaray ski resort was built. It is located in the Sierra de la Demanda, which is crossed by the rivers Oja and Najerilla (Iberian System, in La Rioja, Spain). It is a small ski resort (22.6 Km of ski area) sponsored by the Town Hall of Ezcaray (Oja Valley), in order to boost tourism and break the regressive process that had been dragging on for decades in the Demanda area. This paper examines: i) the influence of Valdezcaray in the evolution of the population as well as in the demographic structure, and ii) the impact of the touristic sector development in primary activities (development of farms, agricultural livestock census and farmland) of the region. The results obtained indicate that the ski resort affects only a small area: the Oja Valley, especially the village of Ezcaray, but not the Najerilla Valley. In the first one, demographic trends and primary sector evolution have been positive and both of them have helped to improve the population structure. However, in the Najerilla Valley, population, livestock and farmland are still going down further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]