Resumen: This article studies creative clusters outside metropolitan areas in Spain. Both the notion of cluster and that of creative activity tend to be associated by mainstream research with urban settings; thus, situating them in an non metropolitan or rural localities has required us to adapt the usual methodology to the scale and idiosyncrasies of a rural setting. Based on this new focus, we have been able to identify 761 municipalities that could host creative clusters within an initial area of study of 7367 non-metropolitan municipalities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. This methodology also has allowed us to measure intensity, internal composition, and localization, so that those of a more mature or advanced character, having a greater level of specialization and diversity, predominate in places close to metropolitan areas and the Mediterranean axis, whereas in the inner Spain, they are found in a lower proportion and in a more scattered and discontinuous manner. Activities belonging to the Functional Creations sector prevail over those from Communication and Patrimony in the configuration of the clusters, although there are differences in relative specialization according to their mature or advanced level. In addition, some of the most significant indicators of rural dynamism e population growth, human capital, unemployment, and economic activity e show much better behaviour in municipalities with creative clusters. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2016.03.007 Año: 2016 Publicado en: JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES 45 (2016), 112-122 ISSN: 0743-0167 Factor impacto JCR: 2.38 (2016) Categ. JCR: PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT rank: 7 / 55 = 0.127 (2016) - Q1 - T1 Categ. JCR: GEOGRAPHY rank: 18 / 78 = 0.231 (2016) - Q1 - T1 Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.272 - Development (Q1) - Sociology and Political Science (Q1) - Geography, Planning and Development (Q1) - Forestry (Q1)