Paco’s daily routine unfolds in near silence. In a small, unnamed hamlet perched 1,200 meters above sea level in the Sierra de Segura, he is the only permanent resident among 14 shuttered houses. When RTVE filmed him in April 2022 for Comando Actualidad, Paco was approaching 70 and had spent his life in this isolated corner of Santiago-Pontones, Jaén. The village’s school and shop are long gone, as are its blacksmith and seamstress. Their buildings are relics of a vanished community. The old wood-fired oven stands half-buried in debris, while locked doors and empty rooms preserve traces of families who left the mountains.
As the sole inhabitant, Paco takes on every role. He acts as caretaker and watchman, with the responsibilities of an unofficial mayor. These are not formal titles, but they reflect the reality that every responsibility falls to him. He maintains the houses and monitors the surroundings. Daily chores are his responsibility, too. Most former residents moved to Catalonia or the Valencian Community when work dried up, leaving Paco to face winters when temperatures can drop to minus 20°C and snow can cut off the hamlet for weeks.
Surviving Isolation
With the nearest supermarket 30 kilometers away, Paco plans his shopping trips carefully and stocks up once a month. His home holds preserved meats and a large freezer, ready for storms that might trap him for days. Some food comes from his land or through barter with people in other villages. This self-sufficiency echoes the habits of earlier generations, who stored supplies for even longer periods.
Not far away, another solitary resident, Javier, lives several kilometers down an unpaved track. His house runs on solar panels and spring water. During the Filomena blizzard, Javier was cut off for 19 days, an experience he described as the hardest of his life. Both men value the peace and security of their surroundings, despite high fuel costs and frequent breakdowns. The roads are deteriorating, too.
Population Collapse
Paco’s situation is part of a broader demographic crisis. Information from the INE, Santiago-Pontones had 5,021 residents in 1996; by 2025, that number had fallen to 2,629, a 47.6% drop in less than three decades. The decline has accelerated, with a 21.2% decrease in just the last ten years. The municipality covers 684 square kilometers, but its population density is now just 3.8 people per square kilometer. Residents are scattered across nearly a hundred hamlets within the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park. This extreme dispersion makes it difficult to maintain roads and communications infrastructure or deliver basic services. In 2025, the regional government officially listed Santiago-Pontones among Andalusia’s most depopulated municipalities. Local initiatives, including support for livestock farmers, aim to keep rural life viable, but the challenges are steep.
Livestock remains basic to the local economy, particularly extensive farming and transhumance. Santiago-Pontones, a municipality comprising Santiago de la Espada and Pontones, has also been promoting ecological Segureño lamb. Diario Jaén reported that more than 70 young people had joined the livestock sector, while a 2026 technical conference held as part of the Feria Ganadera de Pontones put the sector’s challenges and prospects on the agenda across the municipality. The president of the Diputación de Jaén has described transhumant livestock farming as impressive to the provincial economy. These efforts reflect a continuing attempt to sustain rural livelihoods. They do not erase the distances or pressure on services faced by people living in scattered hamlets.
Choosing Solitude
Paco does not see his life as a sacrifice. He values the quiet and sense of safety, and can leave his door unlocked. “I chose to stay because I love nature,” he says. Yet he is clear-eyed about the future: “When I’m gone, the village will be gone too.” His story shows what depopulation means beyond the numbers: people lose immediate help and face higher service costs, while local heritage fades without successors. Efforts to revive abandoned villages elsewhere in Spain show that reversing this trend takes more than nostalgia. It demands public investment in housing and jobs, alongside better connectivity. In Santiago-Pontones, the Junta has allocated €250,000 in 2026 for road and path maintenance as part of a pilot program.
The April 2022 broadcast recorded Paco’s life in a hamlet shaped by isolation and population loss. His experience echoes that of others who have chosen to remain in places most have left behind. The determination to build a new life in challenging circumstances can also be seen in people who arrived in Spain under difficult conditions, then established themselves and contributed to their communities, as described in this account of Moha’s path from Guinea to Almería.
