Rural Settlement Patterns and Influencing Factors

Types of Rural Settlement

Depending on the mode of grouping rural housing, settlements may be classified as follows:

• Isolated settlement: Dwellings are not grouped into a town or village but are independently distributed throughout the territory. The houses are isolated from each other, separated by fields and meadows, and are far apart. This habitat type is found mostly on the Atlantic coast and in mountain areas with abundant and regular rainfall, such as the Cantabrian Mountains, the Basque Country, and Navarre.
• Dispersed settlement: If there are small towns or villages with few houses around a central core that concentrates small municipal services, we have a dispersed settlement. It is also characteristic of areas with significant rainfall.
• Concentrated settlement: The houses are grouped to form compact cores, usually near a water source, leading to a concentrated habitat.

This habitat type extends to virtually all Spanish territory but is most common in dry regions. As we move south of the peninsula, the towns are larger and more distant from each other.

Factors Determining the Settlement

The diversity of rural settlement is conditioned by a number of factors:

Natural Factors

The rugged terrain makes the existence of large farms difficult and facilitates the diversity and dispersion of holdings, favoring dispersed settlement. The availability of water determines the presence of settlements. In dry areas, the population tends to concentrate near wells and rivers. Thus, in dry areas, the settlement is concentrated, while in wetlands, it is sparse. However, while this is true in many areas, the availability of water cannot be considered the only factor. It is verified that natural factors alone do not fully explain the pattern of settlement.

Human Factors

Some important factors include the need for defense and methods of farming:

• The need for defense: In areas where there were security concerns, the population concentrated to defend themselves, often on a hill and protected by a wall.
• Exploitation and land ownership: The fact that in the past land was cultivated individually or collectively is associated with a dispersed settlement in the former case, or a concentrated one in the latter.

In conclusion, in wet Spain, isolated or scattered settlements predominate. In contrast, in dry Spain, concentrated settlements are the most common.