In the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to visit several Spanish pueblos (very small towns), and I thought I’d share a little bit with all of you about my experiences.
Around the year 1900, well over half of Spain’s population lived in the countryside (in pueblos) and worked in agriculture. However, over the course of the twentieth century, there were huge migrations to cities due to the increased mechanization of agriculture, more job opportunities, and political reasons.
When the Spanish people moved to the cities, though, they left their pueblos behind. So, all over the Spanish countryside, there are small towns that are practically abandoned. These pueblos couldn’t have held more than a couple hundred people each. The buildings are made of stones, and the tallest building is always the church.
Nowadays, not many people live out in the pueblos year round. However, many older people have homes in a pueblo that their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren use to vacation during the summer months. Therefore the pueblos are fairly lively in the warmer months, whereas in the winter, it’s likely that only around five (or fewer) older couples live there.
The Spanish countryside is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Every time I travel outside of the city I’m blown away by the mountains, the scenery, and the sky, which are all AMAZING. I don’t think there has been a day I’ve been in Spain so far where the sky has been anything but incredible. I’m always amazed by the Lord’s creativity and beauty in creation…wow.
That being said, it’s understandable that many people like to go to the pueblos to vacation. In addition, each pueblo has a weekend in which they have a fiesta (big party or celebration) to celebrate the town. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go with my host mom to visit one of these small towns, and I want to share some pictures from that experience.
- Eating lunch with my host mom and her friends in their house in the pueblo (Marisol, my host mom, is in the black sweater on the left). The house was very typical for a pueblo: small and made of stone.
- The outside of the house.
- The church in the pueblo
- Me in the Spanish countryside
- SUNSET. The small lines on the horizon are windmills, which are all over the place in the country, since Spain is really big on alternative forms of energy.
- Just enjoying life in the countryside! And I’m not ashamed to say I took my siesta on that bale of hay that day. It was great
Okay, that’s it for today! Thanks for reading!
Mandi
