The concept of place , according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), refers to a place or the disposition or situation of something . The term, however, has another, more frequent use in Spanish-speaking countries.
Place is usually used to name a geographical place that is uninhabited or has a small number of inhabitants . These are generally very small towns that are located in a rural area .
The places, therefore, are villages , hamlets or even specific areas that are found along the way . Their characteristics may vary, although they always share the fact of having a reduced population density.
The differences between the place and the town or other settlements with a higher population density do not end in issues that can be physically measured, but some of them can be appreciated if we study their roots. For example, it is very common for places to emerge little by little, as new people arrive at the place, each one with the objective of carrying out a different commercial activity, which no other inhabitant has carried out until now.
This tells us about a highly functional and specialized type of organization , which has an impact on healthy growth for all people. In a city, the opposite happens: unfair competition is commonplace and can become overwhelming for a small entrepreneur, forcing him to close his store in a few months after destroying his morale with twisted tactics, such as price reductions that he considers impossible at the beginning or excessive opening hours to attract more customers while he is not active.
In a place the feeling of community can be kept alive at levels that have already disappeared in most cities, in part because it would be impossible to know all the inhabitants if the number is counted in tens of millions. This strength in the bond of a place can lead to protection of the interests of others that leads to healthy coexistence, as if it were a large family.
Paraje Macedo , in Argentina , is an example of this type of sector. It is located in the district of General Madariaga , in the province of Buenos Aires , and was born around a railway station that is no longer used. The Regional Kiwi Festival is held annually in Paraje Macedo , an event that attracts visitors from surrounding towns.
In the province of Misiones , also in Argentina , there is the Paraje Fontana . It is part of the municipality of Campo Grande and the Cainguás department.
In Spain , on the other hand, there are several protected spaces that are known as parajes or natural areas . This concept is a synonym for ecological reserve and nature reserve , that is, a semi-protected area that is considered very important for the fauna, flora or wildlife of a given region, or that has certain interesting geological characteristics that are used with educational and research purposes.
The Alto Guadalquivir Natural Site is one of the many that we find in Spain: it is located in the province of Jaén , occupying an area of more than 600 hectares .
The Picturesque Place of Pinar de Abantos and La Herrería Area , meanwhile, is located in the Community of Madrid . It is developed on more than 1100 hectares and was established in 1961 .
There are also the Isla Cristina marshes , located on the Andalusian Atlantic coast, right where the Carreras River flows, which were declared a natural site in 1989. Its surface area is around 2,145 hectares and it occupies part of Isla Cristina and Ayamonte, two municipalities. of the area.