# Life in rural Andalucia in the early 1970s



## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

A documentary made by the American anthropologist Jerome Mintz (narrated in English). These are real people, filmed exactly as they lived.

Pepe is a 65-year-old man who lives alone in the campo in a one-room shack, but he is happy with his five cows, numerous chickens and a cat. His son's family, with eleven children, live in a tiny dwelling in the village with a leaky roof, no electricity or indoor plumbing. There is no work on the land any more, because it's all been mechanised or turned over to livestock, so the son has to go labouring in Germany for eleven months of the year. He saves up enough money to move his family to Valencia, where there is work in factories. But Pepe doesn't want to leave the land ...

https://archive.org/details/pepesfamily


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## Alvarro (Dec 23, 2016)

I'm looking forward to watching that - just the kind of documentary that I like.


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

Alcalaina said:


> A documentary made by the American anthropologist Jerome Mintz (narrated in English). These are real people, filmed exactly as they lived.
> 
> Pepe is a 65-year-old man who lives alone in the campo in a one-room shack, but he is happy with his five cows, numerous chickens and a cat. His son's family, with eleven children, live in a tiny dwelling in the village with a leaky roof, no electricity or indoor plumbing. There is no work on the land any more, because it's all been mechanised or turned over to livestock, so the son has to go labouring in Germany for eleven months of the year. He saves up enough money to move his family to Valencia, where there is work in factories. But Pepe doesn't want to leave the land ...
> 
> https://archive.org/details/pepesfamily



I know parts of Andalucia where this could have been filmed yesterday!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

danboy20 said:


> I know parts of Andalucia where this could have been filmed yesterday!!


In 1967, as a young student, my then partner and I packed loads of tinned and dried food, sleeping bags, teapot and tea (essential survival equipment for him) and a camping stove and lantern into a second-hand Vauxhall Victor Estate we'd just acquired and set off for Spain.
We drove down through France and crossed the border into Spain on the Mediterranean coast. We stayed wherever our fancy took us, Barcelona, Sitges, down the coast to Murcia, Alicante (reminded me of Bournemouth!) Torrevieja (tiny fishing village), then crossed to Granada and across country via Ciudad Real to Madrid, then over to the Atlantic coast up to San Sebastien and home along the French Atlantic coast.
We stayed in cheap hotels, ate in working men's bars and cafes and picnicked on bread, cheese, fruit and wine from local markets. All in all we were away for over six weeks. 
I remember so many things even after fifty years....the surprise at seeing shops and markets open until ten at night, the poverty and kindness, nuns, priests and soldiers everywhere, the friendliness of ordinary people, the building of skyscrapers at what became mighty Benidorm, the sudden darkness of churches after the bright exterior sunlight, the deserted Alhambra, the gypsies in Granada, the unpaved main roads in big towns, the wretched poverty of Orihuela, where giggling young girls ran up to my surprised partner and presented him with a carnation....
The only sour note was when I got escorted to the local cuartel by two Guardia officers on mopeds and made to pay a fine for dangerous driving....That was why our stay was shortened somewhat, we ran out of money.
I didn't go back to Spain until 1980 when we started spending summers in Ibiza in a finca belonging to a friend. By 1986 the character of the place was changing so we switched our holidays to Turkey.
After that I didn't go back to Spain until 2006 when I went from Prague where I was then living to Barcelona for a girls' weekend with former colleagues.
Never did I imagine that two years later Spain would be my 'forever home'. Yes, I've found places that time seems to have passed by, people too. Of course life has changed, Spain is a living country not a museum pickled in time for the convenience of nostalgic or unrealistic visitors. Some things have not changed, important things like the sense of solidarity, the pride in public spaces, the at times apparent arrogant individualism combined with real care and empathy for one's fellow human beings.
I'm at my happiest in a place I never thought I'd be or I wanted to be. 
Ain't life strange


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

danboy20 said:


> I know parts of Andalucia where this could have been filmed yesterday!!


Yup - in 2000 when I started working in the deep campo on a friend's finca it wasn't far off that. There were people in the village who (allegedly) had never left it.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Paco.*

This is Paco's transport.He has lived in the same Finca all his life out near Martin de la Jara.Refuses to talk in Euro's and is always the Peseta.Same as an old lady we knew who is sadly no longer with us.She had a little village store which when you went in it really was like going back in time.I clearly remember the first time we went in,forget what I was after,but whatever it was she fetched it back.I politely asked her how much,she told me and thought that's a bit expensive but then realised she was talking in Peseta's.Downloaded these 2 and stuck them onto a DVD as a nice bit on nostalgia and when you convert what they were earning in Peseta's and then convert it to Euro's it really was a pittance what they were earning.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

tarot650 said:


> This is Paco's transport.He has lived in the same Finca all his life out near Martin de la Jara.Refuses to talk in Euro's and is always the Peseta.Same as an old lady we knew who is sadly no longer with us.She had a little village store which when you went in it really was like going back in time.I clearly remember the first time we went in,forget what I was after,but whatever it was she fetched it back.I politely asked her how much,she told me and thought that's a bit expensive but then realised she was talking in Peseta's.Downloaded these 2 and stuck them onto a DVD as a nice bit on nostalgia and when you convert what they were earning in Peseta's and then convert it to Euro's it really was a pittance what they were earning.


If you convert what they got in Peseta's to the Euro or Pound it really was a pittance.Miss the Peseta,bought our first house in it and sold it in Euro's.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

tarot650 said:


> This is Paco's transport.He has lived in the same Finca all his life out near Martin de la Jara.Refuses to talk in Euro's and is always the Peseta.Same as an old lady we knew who is sadly no longer with us.She had a little village store which when you went in it really was like going back in time.I clearly remember the first time we went in,forget what I was after,but whatever it was she fetched it back.I politely asked her how much,she told me and thought that's a bit expensive but then realised she was talking in Peseta's.Downloaded these 2 and stuck them onto a DVD as a nice bit on nostalgia and when you convert what they were earning in Peseta's and then convert it to Euro's it really was a pittance what they were earning.


They still use mules for transport where I live. Mainly for bringing cork down from the hills where it's harvested, but I recently saw one being used to deliver a sack of cement.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> They still use mules for transport where I live. Mainly for bringing cork down from the hills where it's harvested, but I recently saw one being used to deliver a sack of cement.


Yes - cork and all sorts of things. 

They have a cork loading competition in Jimena at the May feria. They have to load the cork on the poor mule and lead it around a course without any falling off - quickest wins. It would help if the muleteers weren't all borracho.

They are also the preferred method of transport home from the feria as they know the way home and you can't get done for drinking and driving. I've seen two lads on one at 7 in the morning - half asleep and obviously the worse for wear.

They carry all sorts around the village on them - I once saw one with a bathtub strapped to its back. For some reason it was across it rather than lengthways.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jimenato said:


> Yes - cork and all sorts of things.
> 
> They have a cork loading competition in Jimena at the May feria. They have to load the cork on the poor mule and lead it around a course without any falling off - quickest wins. It would help if the muleteers weren't all borracho.
> 
> ...


Huh, what an uncivilised lot those _jimenatos_ are. You'd never catch an _alcalaino_ abusing his _mulo_! 

Our feria starts tomorrow. The council have hired one of those little tourist trains to ferry us back and forth.


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## piersuk (Nov 13, 2015)

That was great... Not sure "always fast" is the best way Pepe could be described at the start of the video.

Would love to have experienced some of that rural Spain then! There were some truly hard times, sure there are many still experiencing those tough days.

Thanks for the share :tea:


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Lots of mules are still in use in the winding streets of Frigiliana where the Tres Culturas Festival starts today. Details can be found here> http://www.festivalfrigiliana3culturas.com/2016/ 

*I know it says 2016 but when you open it you will find it is really for 2017. They can't get everything right!!!


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Our old now retired Gardener used to calculate in pesetas then convert to Euro. Couldn't see the point but it suited him. Not long ago many elderly and markets stall holders used to cost in duros which made it essential to know 5x table.

I remember the road to Mijas being little more than a dirt track, although touristy when you got there. Fuengirola was barely a quarter of the size. We stayed in a sea front hotel, only a 3 star but lots of jacketed waiters and it was silver service with side tables. All along the front were pretty villas and at one end a long row of small fishermens cottages. I think during that time the TUs were calling for a boycott of Spain and Spanish produce

Don't like to see overloaded mules etc. Then or now.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

That poor wife with 10 kids & the halfwit priest telling them that its a sin to have birth control, talk about keeping the peasants in their place.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We no longer have any mules in the village. Our last muleteer has been banned from keeping them because he maltreats them.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> A documentary made by the American anthropologist Jerome Mintz (narrated in English). These are real people, filmed exactly as they lived.
> 
> Pepe is a 65-year-old man who lives alone in the campo in a one-room shack, but he is happy with his five cows, numerous chickens and a cat. His son's family, with eleven children, live in a tiny dwelling in the village with a leaky roof, no electricity or indoor plumbing. There is no work on the land any more, because it's all been mechanised or turned over to livestock, so the son has to go labouring in Germany for eleven months of the year. He saves up enough money to move his family to Valencia, where there is work in factories. But Pepe doesn't want to leave the land ...
> 
> https://archive.org/details/pepesfamily


There is also another about the village shoemaker:

https://ia801608.us.archive.org/6/items/theshoemakerelzapatero/theshoemakerelzapatero.mp4


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

That's interesting, good find. Reminded me of when we were in Elche a long time ago. There were a lot of homeworkers for the local shoe factories and you could see them sewing shoes, sticking soles or putting bows on etc.

We also spent some time on a beach in nearby La Marina. Just one small street and the rest country shacks or farms. We called for a small beer, 8 pesetas. never been back but have read about it, blocks and blocks of apartments.


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

Isobella said:


> Our old now retired Gardener used to calculate in pesetas then convert to Euro. Couldn't see the point but it suited him. Not long ago many elderly and markets stall holders used to cost in duros which made it essential to know 5x table.
> 
> I remember the road to Mijas being little more than a dirt track, although touristy when you got there. Fuengirola was barely a quarter of the size. We stayed in a sea front hotel, only a 3 star but lots of jacketed waiters and it was silver service with side tables. All along the front were pretty villas and at one end a long row of small fishermens cottages. I think during that time the TUs were calling for a boycott of Spain and Spanish produce
> 
> Don't like to see overloaded mules etc. Then or now.


My family still calculate in pesetas, particularly when talking about house prices....maybe it makes them feel better that their houses are now worth in excess of 50 million pesetas


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Well, the Euro was only introduced in Spain in January 2002 and it was a monumental change (the conversion rate was €1 = 166.386 ESP), so it's hardly surprising that there are still people who think in pesetas. Of course, it was introduced at the same time in France and there are still some older people who tend to think in Francs - although most now think/talk Euros because of the confusion arising out of €1 = 6.55957 F.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

When I was first in France the pound was worth 960 Fr which was quite convenient since it meant that 1 Franc was worth 1 farthing. The smaller French denominations were really lightweight (possibly of aluminium) and if a strong wind was blowing, a gust would whip coins out of one's open hand. They had only recently brought in the NF and from what I remember (over 60 years ago) it was about the same size as a 1 Euro coin but slightly thinner.


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## MalagaMike (Aug 16, 2017)

baldilocks said:


> When I was first in France the pound was worth 960 Fr which was quite convenient since it meant that 1 Franc was worth 1 farthing. .


I think you have your figures very very wrong. Never has *1* GBP been worth *960* Francs....Historically the best £1 would have bought you was around *13 *F francs and that was in the mid 1960's. Back in 1950 £1 would have got you just short of 10....then between 1970 until 2001 it was fairly stable fluctuating between 8 & 11 Francs to the Pound but nowhere near your *960*


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## Poloss (Feb 2, 2017)

MalagaMike said:


> I think you have your figures very very wrong. Never has *1* GBP been worth *960* Francs....Historically the best £1 would have bought you was around *13 *F francs and that was in the mid 1960's. Back in 1950 £1 would have got you just short of 10....then between 1970 until 2001 it was fairly stable fluctuating between 8 & 11 Francs to the Pound but nowhere near your *960*


On 1st of January 1960 the "new" franc officially replaced the "ancient" franc at a rate of 100 old for one new. 
I think the historical exchange rates now available are in constant new franc equivalents and don't take the 1960 devaluation into consideration.

Right up to the arrival of the euro the prices of cars and property in France were still referred to in millions of "ancient" francs. 10 000 new francs was called a "million", a "patate" or a "brique".


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## MalagaMike (Aug 16, 2017)

Poloss said:


> On 1st of January 1960 the "new" franc officially replaced the "ancient" franc at a rate of 100 old for one new.
> I think the historical exchange rates now available are in constant new franc equivalents and don't take the 1960 devaluation into consideration.
> 
> Right up to the arrival of the euro the prices of cars and property in France were still referred to in millions of "ancient" francs. 10 000 new francs was called a "million", a "patate" or a "brique".


Apologies all round, I stand corrected as was basing it simply on historical data which as you point out doesnt take into account the devaluation....


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