Gorgeous Photos Show Spaniards Ditching Cities For The Abandoned Countryside
Jan 5, 2015, 21:33 IST
In 2011, photographer Juan Aballe's closest friends began moving from their homes in Madrid, Spain's capital city, to the nearby countryside. Some left in search of a quieter, simpler life and some because of a lack of opportunities due to the ongoing economic crisis. The move shocked Aballe, who began contemplating whether he too should leave the city and its comforts for a long deserted rural Spain.
It seems Aballe's friends were not alone. After decades of Spaniards abandoning the countryside for better opportunities in the cities, the population flow has reversed. With no jobs in the cities and a cheaper cost of living, the countryside has become attractive. According to Spain's census, the number of people living in population centers with less than 100 people has increased 13 percent in the last ten years and more people have relocated from cities to towns in the past fifteen years than the other way around.
Aballe began photographing rural areas of the country, sometimes while visiting relocated friends and other times exploring the many alternate communities of young Spaniards that have cropped up. His goal was less to document a historical moment and more to capture the idealized rural lifestyle that his friends wanted to believe in.
Aballe shared some photos from his project, aptly titled "Country Fictions", with us here, but the work is now available in a book, which is available at Fuego Books.