Figure 1: Photo by Maria C. Puche-Ruiz, Douro Nature Park, 28 may 2009

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Figure 2: Photo by Maria C. Puche-Ruiz, Douro Nature Park, 28 may 2009

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1The two photographs were taken in the Douro International Nature Park, more precisely in the area between the Aldeadávila dam in Spain (where the final scenes of the film “Doctor Zhivago” were shot) and Freixo de Espada in Cinta (Portugal). This is a region with a long tradition of wine and olive growing.

2The photographs were taken during fieldwork by a group of students from the Master's program in Local Development and Territorial Innovation (University of Alicante, Spain) in the 2008-2009 academic year, and show two landscapes with different forms on the two banks of the river.

3While rows of olive trees on the Freixo bank were harmoniously arranged on the terraces, on the Salamanca bank, their layout was anarchic and neglected. This was due to the depopulation of the region on the Spanish side and the irregularity of olive cultivation - the activity had been started and abandoned in a cyclical fashion. By 2009, the region's Rural Development Officers were already discussing promoting the recovery of this age-old tradition on the Spanish side, inspired by the Portuguese experience. Fifteen years after these photos were taken, the Arribes del Duero region has finally followed in the footsteps of its Portuguese counterpart and made olive oil one of its flagship products.