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\u2019s 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 \u2013 a \u2018caravana\u2019 - 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\u2019s epic story of rural depopulation. More than half the country is at risk, and in nearly 600 municipalities there isn\u2019t one resident under the age of 10. And as Linda Pressly finds out, there are many initiatives now to reverse the decline of the Spanish countryside, including a movement of young people \u2013 the "neo-rurales" \u2013 who have begun to occupy abandoned villages.
Presenter and producer: Linda Pressly\nProducer in Spain: Esperanza Escribano
(Image: Antonio Cerrada, a shepherd who found love. Credit: BBC, Esperanza Escribano)