ABSTRACT

The many demographic, economic, social and legislative changes that have occurred in Spain in recent decades have impacted the structure of households. This chapter focuses on households of elderly people against a background of intense and rapid ageing of the Spanish population. How much has this phenomenon contributed to change in the structure and geographical distribution of this category of population? To what extent should the observed increase in residential solitude among these elderly people, which is sometimes confused with relational solitude, be attributed to the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008? These are the main questions addressed in this chapter.