Empty Spain and the Caravans of Love

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2019

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How does a lonely, Spanish shepherd find love when single women have left for the city? Antonio Cerrada lives north of Madrid, in the heart of what’s been nicknamed the, "Lapland of Spain" because its population density is so low. With only a handful of families left in his village, and people continuing to leave for the cities, Antonio struggled to find a partner. Then Maria Carvajal arrived. She came in a bus full of single women – a ‘caravana’ - to attend an organised party with men like Antonio.

The Caravans of Women - or Caravans of Love as they are known - began as a response to Spain’s epic story of rural depopulation. More than half the country is at risk, and in nearly 600 municipalities there isn’t one resident under the age of 10. And as Linda Pressly finds out, there are many initiatives now to reverse the decline of the Spanish countryside, including a movement of young people – the "neo-rurales" – who have begun to occupy abandoned villages.

Presenter and producer: Linda Pressly Producer in Spain: Esperanza Escribano

(Image: Antonio Cerrada, a shepherd who found love. Credit: BBC, Esperanza Escribano)

Transcript

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0:00.0	So for assignment this is a really gentle but important story.
0:05.0	It's about the Hamlets and villages of Spain where you don't see a soul,
0:09.0	where the shops are shuttered and the schools are closed.
0:12.0	Rural depopulation has been called the
0:14.6	number one challenge for Spain. I hope you'll be engaged by what you hear in the
0:18.8	next half hour and if you are perhaps you'll have a moment to rate us with your
0:22.4	podcast provider.
0:24.1	So please stay tuned now for empty Spain and the caravans of love. This is Antonio Sarada getting his goats in order.
0:37.0	If it wasn't for me and my brother, this village will have been abandoned a long time ago.
0:45.0	Fewer than 10 people live year-round in Antonio's community.
0:50.0	Spain is ground zero for rural depopulation in Europe.
0:54.0	Over half the country is at risk, and some 4,000 municipalities are threatened with extinction.
0:59.9	Deserted, lifeless, no one on the streets. But there's resistance, people committed to saving
1:06.3	communities in the Spanish countryside. I'm Linda Presley and this is assignment on the BBC
1:11.3	World Service.
1:15.2	My grandparents, my parents and us, two brothers.
1:19.0	We are three generations here in Praderna de Tienza.
1:24.5	The ancient stone cottages of Antonia's village tumble down the sides of a valley.
1:29.5	We're two and a half hours northeast of Madrid, but with the bare mountains and icy wind, it feels much
1:35.0	more far-flung.
1:37.0	Antonio is 52 now, and although he's seen dozens of neighbors upsticks for a new life in the
1:42.2	city, he's never wanted to leave.
	...

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