Demothanasia is the process by which political actions or omissions lead to the disappearance of a territory's population. Death by depopulation is slow and silent. It is merciless with territory, nature and heritage. The situation is no less dramatic for the people who live or, rather, resist in rural areas. Europe is the most ageing continent in the world. One of the regions most affected by ageing according to Eurostat is Galicia. There is a high percentage of elderly people with a lack of residential autonomy or with a certain degree of dependency who are reluctant to leave the land where they have lived all their lives. They live alone where care and assistance are conspicuous by their absence. Administrations fail to provide sufficient resources and the political actors involved display a passivity to the point of implicit violence, leading to extremely worrying social contexts. A large part of the ageing population is abandoned in these areas with a lack of care.
Demothanasia
Series, 1st place
Olga is 91 years old and lives alone in a village in Lugo. A month ago, her son, who lived in the city, was forced to come and live with her, fearing that she might have a fall or a problem associated with her age and mobility.
House abandoned after the death of the elderly person who lived there. Inside, everything is as she left it.
Luis lives alone in a house with no windows. His surroundings evoke moments from the past. He says that he doesn't alter the windows or fix the house because when he dies nobody will live there and the few relatives he has emigrated long ago.
Santiago lives in Mostade, a village of about thirty houses, where only he and his octogenarian mother, whom he cares for, live all year round. Santiago prepares chestnuts on a rainy winter afternoon.
Собранные Доминго яблоки так и остались на кухонном столе. Хранятся они хорошо – могут пролежать так всю зиму и не испортиться. Доминго 88 лет, он живет один в маленькой деревушке в А Фонсаграда.
The apples that Domingo picked are still on top of the kitchen table They stay fresh over the winter. Domingo is 88 years old and lives alone in an isolated village in A Fonsagrada.
The apples that Domingo picked are still on top of the kitchen table They stay fresh over the winter. Domingo is 88 years old and lives alone in an isolated village in A Fonsagrada.
Domingo picks potatoes to make food. Domingo is 88 years old and lives alone in an isolated village in A Fonsagrada.
Luis has lived completely alone in Vilarbacú for more than fifteen years. His only company are his dogs.
A tractor grows maize for a cow farm. The sector is in a deep crisis.
Carlos and Irene have a small beef cattle farm. They say that nowadays they have a hard time because the prices they receive are the same as they were thirty years ago and all other products have gone up.
Domingo prepares his food. He lives alone in an isolated village in A Fonsagrada despite his advanced age and mobility problems.
A couple collects grass to feed their animals.
Luis lives in this house where he was born. He is 57 years old and currently works for the City Council. Ten years ago, his house caught fire. When the firefighters arrived, they were unable to prevent the damage, but he has continued to live there.