When someone thinks of a caravan, the word vacation probably comes to mind. Or maybe they imagine an exciting road trip, or a quiet stay in a green meadow, enjoying a pleasant read while lying on a deckchair. Caravans have the magical ability to expand our personal space beyond any imaginable limit and to bring the exotic outside world into our comfort zone. All in all, it’s an invention full of possibilities.
But in Galicia, the region of Spain where I live, this small mobile and personal space can take on an entirely unexpected form. Galicians are practical people: we always find a new use for things, and we do so without worrying about aesthetics or logic. If something serves a purpose, we use it without hesitation, no matter how absurd it may seem from the outside.
That’s exactly what I came across while driving down a secondary road near Betanzos, where a caravan that had clearly seen better days had been turned into the luxurious home of a few lucky hens. And honestly, the idea makes sense. The interior space is generous, well insulated, doesn’t take up too much room, and there are plenty of hiding spots among the furniture where the hens can lay their eggs. Plus, at night you can shut the door and make sure no hungry foxes get to our little friends. It’s all advantages.
From a purely aesthetic point of view, however, things don’t work quite so well. A dirty, run-down caravan, full of chicken droppings, right next to the house, isn’t exactly a visual delight. And the level of neglect and disregard we show in that sense is so remarkable that a term has even been coined to describe this very local phenomenon: Galician feísmo.
Unpainted and unfinished houses, historical buildings repaired with whatever materials are on hand, old furniture thrown into the fields, huts built from leftover scraps… all of it makes up our landscape. And it’s not just a matter of aesthetics; it’s part of our culture, of who we are.
Although it’s a small flaw we Galicians carry, I have to admit it offers a lot from a photographic point of view. More than once I’ve come across real eyesores that ended up looking strangely picturesque in photographs. Different realities always have more than one face, and what might seem unpleasant to some can have the exact opposite effect on others. Clearly, relativity goes far beyond physics formulas, especially when it comes to something as subjective as beauty.
