The question of housing in the rural world. An exploratory study

An exploratory study that analyzes the issue of housing in the rural world based on the comparison of four municipalities: Belorado (Burgos), Bot (Tarragona), Fuentes de León (Badajoz) and Tragacete (Cuenca).

This study aims to understand and characterize the housing market in rural areas of Spain, analyze its territorial and social differences, as well as its connection with socioeconomic, political and demographic processes that have been transforming these territories. We pay special attention to the influence of tourism development on the current configuration of the housing market in rural areas. To achieve this objective and capture the diversity of experiences in the rural world, we use a territorial comparative view and longitudinal analysis as well as economic, social and cultural/anthropological approaches. This leads us to study and analyze housing as an element of economic value but also with an essential cultural and anthropological symbolism that defines how the rural world is inhabited today. It is also necessary to approach the question of housing from the point of view of political and social action, identifying and analyzing in depth the regulations and also the initiatives that have been devised to offer solutions to the various problems and to understand in what project of ruralities they are framed.

This exploratory analysis takes into account the heterogeneity of vectors on which the issue of rural housing is currently articulated and the perception of the resident population with respect to the policies and initiatives applied to alleviate the housing problems. The objective is to obtain an image as close as possible to the diversity of existing situations at a state level based on the study of four municipalities, with diverse geographical characteristics and development trajectories, where different solutions to the housing market problem have already been applied: Belorado (Burgos), Bot (Tarragona), Fuentes de León (Badajoz) y Tragacete (Cuenca).

This study will be carried out by applying a mixed methodology combining quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. In addition to the exercise of extraction, analysis and processing of statistical data, in-depth interviews and focus groups with agents representing the different groups involved and participant observation will be applied.

The final result includes an evaluation of the influence of the socioeconomic environment, a characterization of the housing stock in the studied municipalities, a specific analysis of tourism development in the study areas and an assessment of the effectiveness of the regulatory framework. In addition, private actions and activism initiatives on rural housing have also been identified.