An Introduction

Abstract

One of the most striking impressions when travelling in Spain is the mixture of old and new. Gleaming new factories and blocks of flats stand within a few miles of villages virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. The most up-to-date industrial processes exist side by side with the use of the Roman plough and traditional threshing methods. One can hardly fail, also, to be conscious of the abruptness with which change has hit many parts of Spain. Blocks of flats stand starkly on the edge of towns, surrounded by fields, with none of the subtle gradations from town to countryside which characterise a slower rate of change. Complementary to this is the common sight in Central Spain of unoccupied houses in villages and even on occasion whole villages left empty while their previous occupants seek a new style of life in the towns.