Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Empty Spain and the Caravans of Love
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Empty Spain and the Caravans of Love
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. But 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)
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.7
7474 ratings
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. But 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)
More shows like Crossing Continents
View all
In Our Time
5,456 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
370 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,804 Listeners
File on 4 Investigates
41 Listeners
Start the Week
159 Listeners
Global News Podcast
7,696 Listeners
Thinking Allowed
300 Listeners
Profile
107 Listeners
Great Lives
505 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,792 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,080 Listeners
The Bottom Line
34 Listeners
More or Less: Behind the Stats
895 Listeners
Witness History
956 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,938 Listeners
Newshour
1,056 Listeners
Last Word
45 Listeners
Moral Maze
69 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
845 Listeners
The Inquiry
748 Listeners
The Briefing Room
63 Listeners
13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle
4,195 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,194 Listeners
The Great Post Office Trial
36 Listeners