I Live Out in the Countryside. Exploring Extreme Processes of Individualization in Rural Spain

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to study in depth the perspective of the individual in rural geographic studies, specifically relationships between the position of the individual in the community and the physical space they inhabit. The focus of the study is individuals living alone in Spain, in the middle of the countryside in depopulated nuclei, with space but almost without a community. The analysis is based on a quantitative study of individuals who live alone in a village, from a geographical perspective and, also, the testimonies of various individuals who live alone, presented ethnographically. The conclusions show the temporary nature of the phenomenon, its wide distribution at a municipal level, a clear male predominance, the value of the absence of a community, the appreciation of values of the surroundings and the disappearance of the limits of the community in terms of spatial continuity.