Villabandin

Villabandin is a small hamlet part of 15 or so that lead approximately 100 kilometers away from the city of León, León in the province of Castile-Leon in north eastern Spain. The population is estimated to be less than ten people, although during the summer months families come together to expand the hamlet's population. It is made up of two parts with only two residents living in one while the major part of the hamlet being within the other. In the main part a collection of old houses, barns, a church, a bar, which remains shut for most of the year, and a dance hall are cut through by a river with two bridges on opposing sides. The hamlet lies between two valleys at an altitude of over 1,000 meters above sea level.

History

The area that Villabandin lies in is believed to have been invaded by the "moros", a term given to the Arab population that invaded Spain. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a fire burnt much of the hamlet and in 1902 it was renovated. Up until the 1980s the hamlet was inhabited by poor farmers that worked in the valleys around herding sheep and cattle.

Climate

During the winter months it is notoriously cold in Villabandin and most of the elderly inhabitants actually leave to be looked after by next of kin. It is not until late spring that the place starts to become a bit more lively, with the surrounding countryside bursting into bloom and the festival of 'el corpus' occurring in June, where people from the neighbouring hamlets and town of Villabandin come to celebrate. During the summer months the weather is warm and sunny and brings in more people to the place, with generations of families coming out onto the bridges to see one another, as well as the men play the popular game 'los bolos'.

Food

Food plays an important part in the culture of people in Villabandin. In the morning the people will always have a bowl of milk with some biscuits perhaps, and for lunch a stew or rice, and meat always accompanies everyting, particularly smoked meats like chorizo. As a result a high number of people in the area suffer from illness associated with a diet too high in saturated fat. A van passes through the hamlet everyday throughout the summer to deliver fresh bread, and the vegetables are collected from a vegetable garden on the outskirts of the place the inhabitants share. The tap water comes from a deposit not far up in the hills above the hamlet. As a result despite the high amounts of animal produce eaten, the oragnic, fresh vegetables and water help to balance it all out. Two lorries, one with fish, the other a range of foods, also pass through on a regular basis.

People

All of Villabandin's year-round inhabitants are elderly, but during the summer months their families return. Most live in the province of Castile-Leon, others around the country, and some have even settled as far away as London in the United Kingdom.