People still live in caves - and by choice. And this is in Europe. Indeed, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in south east Spain. In a series of small hills, a photograph shows half a dozen or more whitewashed house fronts. But the rooms behind are not man-built, they are grottes in the French of this article in the magazine Europe. (Grotto in English, by the way, is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as "cave or cavern, esp. one which is picturesque or an agreeable retreat.") Anyway these inhabited caves or grottoes normally consist of a main room, a kitchen, bedrooms and a store-room for the food. They don't need a heating system, for the temperature is a steady 19 or 20 degrees all year round. The furniture, says the article is rudimentary, but that doesn't mean they don't have television, and all around he caves you can hear the mobile telephones in action. The inhabitants are mostly Romanies or gypsies, and flamenco music is a feature. They play up to tourists with music and song. But turning caves into bars and discotheques has somewhat blunted the interest of visitors. One resident told the reporter that he was born in the grotto/cave as was his father, grandfather and great, great grandfather. Meanwhile, he says, he is a professor of flamenco and has no wish to leave his home which is also his workplace and thus his main source of income.
However, he admits, his children prefer modern life in apartments in the nearby city of Granada. On the other hand, young people under twenty-five make up half the population. Marriage brings old customs with it. It is very important in this gypsy life-style that a woman be a virgin at marriage. And so three women check the virginity of the bride-to-be. If they find against, not only may the marriage be off, but feuds can grow up, even, the article says, leading to a death. Not all the inhabitants are gypsies, but often are of mixed origin. They have problems with hippies.
The grottoes don't have windows but the half-door goes some way to make up for this lack. A professor at an architectural college says the caves/grottoes are very much "a la mode" with the constant temperature all year round and the inhabitants can extend their space, always sure of good ventilation through the doors and the chimneys. Water is the enemy. It can cause the earth to slide. The average number of persons in one of these habitations is four. About a hundred kilometres north of Granada there are caves of a better quality, the article tells us, inhabited by no less than 3,000 people. This is a at Gaudix, where there is a tradition of making ceramics, baskets, and leather products. Also musical instruments. Much more in this article in the stylish magazine produced by the students in the famous Paris organisation Journalistes en Europe. The author is Artan Kutra from Albania.