On the Way to Another Place: Jordi Nadal and Rural Depopulation

Documento de Trabajo #2108

Título: On the Way to Another Place: Jordi Nadal and Rural Depopulation

Autor/es: Fernando Collantes and Vicente Pinilla

Abstract: In this paper we review the parts of the work of Jordi Nadal most related to the history of rural depopulation in Spain. Nadal examines several key aspects that naturally form part of the wider picture of the current state of affairs, including the role of industrialisation in inducing migratory movements from the countryside to the city and the decisive acceleration of this process during the second part of the Franco regime. We can find greater tension in issues such as the role of agricultural change of the future of depopulation, in which we can observe (inevitably) the influence of the historiographic and demographic context within which Nadal wrote his work. In conclusion, we stress the importance of studying the dynamics of the rural population as an interesting topic in its own right, and not as a stepping stone towards other subjects and debates.