A trip back in time around the Fields of Nijar: from Juan Goytisolo’s images to the invasion of greenhouses

The rural region of the Fields of Nijar in Almeria (Andalusia) has drastically changed since the 1950’s, when Juan Goytisolo wrote his travel book. It used to be an impoverished territory that relied on subsistence economic activities and was a focus of emigration. The establishment of highly technified orchard cultivation and of greenhouses has changed the region’s image and its economic characteristics. The use of literary work to understand geographic elements is based on the concept of "Geosophy" developed in 1947 by geographer John K. Wright. One of the practical assignments carried out by our students in Geography of Spain consisted in the analysis of this travel book to appreciate the significant changes that the Fields of Nijar have experienced in the recent past.