La reestructuración de los espacios rurales de La Gomera: ¿desarrollo rural o profundización de la dialéctica campo-ciudad?

The island of La Gomera is a little known territory from a scientifi c viewpoint. It is even less known in the social sciences sector. The island has suffered from sudden changes throughout the twentieth centuary. The dialectics between the rural and urban enviroments have been the backdrop for these changes, above all at the end of the twentieth centuary. In the phase of the agriculturally based ecconomy which extended over the whole of the island, the dialectics were characterized by the international export role played by the canaries and La Gomera in particular. With the downfall of this ecconomic model which protected the opposing position of agricultural exportation – subsistence agriculture, a new period opened, characterized by the terciary ecconomy. This, by means of tourism based activities has reconverted the insular territory on a paralel to a deeper dialectic between both geographical areas.