A barrack can be a precarious home.
Barraca is a term with etymological origins in the Catalan language. The notion has various uses depending on the region and context .
The first meaning referred to by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary refers to a precarious home that is built in a rustic manner. The barracks arise from the need to have a home and the impossibility of carrying out a formal construction or renting/buying a property.
Irregular settlements
Many times the barracks are grouped in irregular settlements . These are neighborhoods that are developed without respecting urban planning regulations and that usually lack essential services such as electricity and drinking water .
Generally, the barracks are built by the families that reside in them. Architects and engineers do not usually intervene, which can cause serious structural problems.
Another aspect to highlight is that the barracks are usually built on illegally occupied land . They are often found in areas that should not be inhabited for safety reasons, such as river banks or hillsides .
In some regions of Spain, the barraca is a construction that serves as a home for farmers.
Barraca as a home for farmers
In the Region of Murcia and the Valencian Community ( Spain ), a farmer's home , located among the orchards , is known as a barraca. These houses were traditionally made of adobe and had a gable roof.
The barracks usually have a rectangular plan, a triangular roof and a door on each facade. Its rooms include a dining room, kitchen and two or three bedrooms.
Goods warehouse
In several Latin American countries, the building used for the storage of merchandise intended for commerce is called a barraca. Wool , leather and other products can be stored in the barracks.
Usually the concept refers to the old building that was built near a river to facilitate the transfer of the collected items. These barracks could have great economic importance.
In the City of Buenos Aires ( Argentina ), in this framework, there is a neighborhood called Barracas . It takes its name from those barracks that, at the end of the 18th century , were located next to the Riachuelo and were dedicated above all to the collection of leather.
The barraca, name of a fish and a plant
The field of biology also appeals to the idea of barraca for the naming of a species of fish and a species of plant . The animal in question bears the scientific name of Lepidion lepidion , while the plant was named Apium nodiflorum .
As for the fish , also called Mediterranean lepidion or red moranella , it belongs to the order Gadiformes and lives in the Mediterranean . Blueish in color, it has a pair of dorsal fins that lack spines.
Regarding the plant , it is part of the Apiaceae group and is known depending on the region as cress , berra , berrera or berraza . Its growth occurs in the center and south of the European continent.
A novel by Blasco Ibáñez
The Spanish writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez published a novel titled “La barraca” in 1898 . The work portrays the difficult life of Valencian peasants in the 19th century .
The book had a film adaptation directed by the Mexican Roberto Gavaldón that premiered in 1945 and a television version as a nine-episode series that was broadcast by Spanish Television ( TVE ) in 1979 .