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This dissertation examines the representation of Spain’s evolving national landscape and heritage deterioration in audiovisual and literary media over the past century. The investigation centers on the concept of “ruin” which denotes the gradual degradation of architectural structures, urban and rural spaces. The study encompasses a selected corpus of Spanish novels, documentary films, photographs, archives, and graphic novels that deal with what I call a “politics of ruinification”, a term that best encapsulates the continual decay of environmental, architectural, and spatial infrastructures (skyscrapers, squares, hotels, and flea markets, among others) and landscapes resulting from various political and financial projects in modern and contemporary Spain. I argue Spain’s recent history cannot be fully understood without digging into the debris of these modern ruins, once vibrant symbols of progress and now silent witnesses to the ebb and flow of capitalism’s neoliberal phase.
The research explores how places that once symbolized economic prosperity have undergone a metamorphosis into desolate, incomplete, or forsaken settings. These transformed spaces are conceptualized as “aesthetic markers of the temporality of crisis," (Castro Picón 60 in reference to Germán Labrador's manuscript Luces), reflecting broader socioeconomic shifts and cultural narratives. This representation aligns with Walter Benjamin’s conceptualization of ruins, wherein he posits: “In the ruin, history has merged sensuously with the setting. And so configured, history finds expression not as a process of eternal life, but rather as one of unstoppable decline” (“The Ruin”, Benjamin 2008, 180).
By examining the evocative imagery, soundscapes, and the sensory-rich language used in these representations in Spain’s media landscape, the project aims to elucidate the complex interplay between architectural and spatial degradation, cultural memory, and societal change. This analysis contributes to our understanding of how media portrayals both reflect and shape perceptions of national identity and heritage in the face of ongoing transformations The work answers the following questions: 1) How did the economic, social, and political turbulence stirred by Spain in the last century affect the building (and destruction) of its natural scenery and skyline?; and 2) In what ways do these processes of ruinification —marked by the destruction or decay of spaces once emblematic of progress—intersect with the construction, negotiation, and representation of Spanish national identity in modern and contemporary media?
