# Probably a stupid question, but..............



## vix2000 (Jan 20, 2019)

What is "the campo"? I keep reading threads about the pros and cons of living in the Campo so I translated it and it means "field".


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## Hepa (Apr 2, 2018)

Many use the word Campo to refer to areas in the country or out of town.


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## vix2000 (Jan 20, 2019)

Thank you very much Hepa its been bugging me. I was thinking it might be a complex, or maybe an area with fincas. I will know in future now.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Hepa said:


> Many use the word Campo to refer to areas in the country or out of town.


The English equivalent being _out in the sticks !!_


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Many use the word Campo to refer to areas in the country or out of town.


As Hepa says it's an area out of town, otherwise known as the country (although it can mean field as well, just depends on the context). For some reason it's a word that English speakers pick up even when they don't speak much Spanish beyond_ una cerveza _and _un cafe con leche_ and as they learn it, it becomes part of everyday language, not sure why. Others are _abogado (lawyer) and ayuntamiento (town hall)- _as soon as they've been learnt the English words, which mean exactly the same, are forgotten


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

Used for anywhere outside the town centre where you are "countrified" and not packed in like sardines

Davexf


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## vix2000 (Jan 20, 2019)

lol thanks again Dave


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

It is countryside that is worked as agricultural land. Non-productive woodland, scrub etc is sometimes called "montes" (nothing to do with mountains!)

Many Spanish people who live in towms also own rural properties, often without mains water or electricity, that have been in the family for generations. You'll hear them talking about going to the campo for the weekend, meaning they are going to these places.


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## Beach buddy (Jul 7, 2018)

davexf said:


> Hola
> 
> Used for anywhere outside the town centre where you are "countrified" and not packed in like sardines
> 
> Davexf


where we get electric all the time, our water doesnt get switched off, our internet speeds are good. To name but a few advantages of town living.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Beach buddy said:


> where we get electric all the time, our water doesnt get switched off, our *internet speeds* are good. To name but a few advantages of town living.


That's probably the biggest downside to being 'out in the campo' is low internet broadband speeds - in fact it's surprising
how the availability of good broadband internet is one of the key criteria's for determining where people will buy
these days; so much so that its as if many cannot live without it !!


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## Beach buddy (Jul 7, 2018)

These days its almost impossible to live without. Its as if pen and paper, reference books, Post, normal on off switch tv, no longer exist. How many things you cannot access without it!! Shame really, not sure if all of it is such a good thing.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

I need internet to work.
I have to write reports, record attendance and access materials online. Above all I need What's App and email to communicate with students, clients, employers...


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

El campo. Is a very useful word which in my mind at least does not have a one word equivalent in english. One just ‘knows’ what one means when they use it. !


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

El campo usually sends up with mi pueblo which basically means where I'm from not my village


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

kaipa said:


> El campo usually sends up with mi pueblo which basically means where I'm from not my village


Yes, and _mi pueblo_ means both my people and my town/village. It's always part of who you are, even if you now live on the other side of the country.

I wonder if this concept will carry over to the internet generation?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Juan C said:


> El campo. Is a very useful word which in my mind at least does not have a one word equivalent in english. One just ‘knows’ what one means when they use it. !


Which is why the OP was asking!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

kaipa said:


> El campo usually sends up with mi pueblo which basically means where I'm from not my village


 People here usually refer to _el pueblo_, no _mi pueblo_
_Voy al pueblo este verano_
_Lo compré en el pueblo_
But that's when they are referring to a specific town/ village


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Juan C said:


> El campo. Is a very useful word which in my mind at least does not have a one word equivalent in english. One just ‘knows’ what one means when they use it. !


'Countryside', 'bush', 'outback' in the way the OP meant it.

Also - 'Pitch' and 'Course'.

And 'place on a computer screen where you enter something'.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

This morning, I saw the lady who sells green-grocery grown by her husband on their huerto and I asked how he was (he had been ill not so long ago) and she said he was "al campo." In this case she meant that he was at the huerto attending to the crops. For most, their huertos are down by the river where there are, on each side, swathes of good fertile land about 100-200 m wide. In this area "el campo" can mean anything from the huertos to the olive groves, rustic land or even on the mountain sides.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> This morning, I saw the lady who sells green-grocery grown by her husband on their huerto and I asked how he was (he had been ill not so long ago) and she said he was "al campo." In this case she meant that he was at the huerto attending to the crops. For most, their huertos are down by the river where there are, on each side, swathes of good fertile land about 100-200 m wide. In this area "el campo" can mean anything from the huertos to the olive groves, rustic land or even on the mountain sides.


But the OP may not know what a huerto is!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> But the OP may not know what a huerto is!


Dictionaries and the internet are wonderful things and are among the first steps towards becoming integrated and living life to the full in a new country.


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Pesky Wesky said:


> People here usually refer to _el pueblo_, no _mi pueblo_
> _Voy al pueblo este verano_
> _Lo compré en el pueblo_
> But that's when they are referring to a specific town/ village


The locals do that on the coast too. In large places like Torremolinos the old part which still has mainly Spanish there and a lot of VPO housing. They consider it apart from all the tourist part.


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## vix2000 (Jan 20, 2019)

baldilocks said:


> Dictionaries and the internet are wonderful things and are among the first steps towards becoming integrated and living life to the full in a new country.


Firstly I won't be living in Spain, but am happy to learn the language and customs for myself. I have had a lot of positive advice on this site when I have had problems finding information elsewhere, I thought that was the point? 

Had I actually seen the word huerto I would indeed have looked it up, however I didn't, and the word I saw was "Campo" which, as stated in my original post came up as "field".


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## DonMarco (Nov 20, 2016)

Beach buddy said:


> where we get electric all the time, our water doesnt get switched off, our internet speeds are good. To name but a few advantages of town living.


I think the question has been asnwered so allow me to derail.

My Finca is on the Campo and I have all these advantages too. In fact my wireless internet is good enough for Smart TV streaming.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

DonMarco said:


> I think the question has been asnwered so allow me to derail.
> 
> My Finca is on the Campo and I have all these advantages too. In fact my wireless internet is good enough for Smart TV streaming.


I totally agree! My house is 400 metres from the nearest public road and 5km from the nearest shop but I have mains electricity and water, fast internet and UK freesat TV via a 2.4m satellite dish.


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