Cultural landscapes, geography and resilience in four rural areas (Ourense, Spain)

Abstract

The research analyzes the cultural landscapes of four regions in Ourense, one of the provinces of Spain that suffers great problems of demographic atony, ageing, depopulation and abandonment of economic activities. Vulnerable areas that have been deactivated through the 20th century by successive migratory waves, where the loss of population and the relinquishment of agricultural and forestry plots have had severe social, economic and cultural repercussions. The work examines the resilience of these rural landscapes, where different crops have been the key element of life and trade for centuries, adapting the diferential spatial features to the more convenient exploitation of agriculture and livestock. After decades of crisis, some successful experiences show the way to certain territorial renewal based on local resources -vineyard, bread, chestnut and potato-, which were the supportative elements of the population in the past.