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Spain is often talked about as a country under pressure — overcrowded cities, tourism, rising prices, and overheated housing markets.
But there’s another Spain moving quietly in the opposite direction.

In this film, I travel through some of Spain’s most depopulated regions to understand what happens when villages are left behind — and whether abandonment is really the end of the story.

From reservoirs that submerged entire communities, to remote mountain villages where the last residents only left in recent years, this journey took me from Extremadura to Aragón and Castilla y León. What I expected to be a story about economics and infrastructure turned into something far more human.

In Sarnago, a village without permanent residents since the late 1970s, I found a community that never stopped coming back — working together, sharing meals, preserving traditions, and quietly refusing to let the place be forgotten.

This film isn’t about nostalgia, and it isn’t about easy solutions. It’s about memory, community, and a Spanish concept that has no direct English translation, but may hold an important lesson for all of us.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. I read as many as I can, even if I can’t reply to everyone.

🔗 Links & Further Information

👉 Support & learn more about Sarnago and the Amigos de Sarnago project:
https://www.sarnago.com

(Includes information on visiting, supporting their work, and keeping the village alive.)

👉 Join the Spain Unfiltered members space

Early access, follow-up discussions, research notes, extended interviews, and behind-the-scenes material from this and future films:

👉 https://www.payhip.com/spainunfiltered

(I finished editing this video on Christmas Eve and haven't had time to upload content to the member site yet, it will be done after Boxing Day, if the members content isn’t live yet, you can join the mailing list and I’ll email you as soon as everything is posted.)

For more information about learning Spanish Please check out this interview with James for James Spanish School: https://youtu.be/m5lTA39WLxI Use the code SU25 at checkout for a 25% discount

If you found this film meaningful, please consider liking the video and subscribing — it really does help me continue making independent documentaries like this.

Thanks for watching.
James