Open Lives

The OpenLives project documented the experiences of Spanish migrants returning to Spain after settling in the UK. Researchers from the University of Southampton collected oral testimony, images and other ephemera. This collection digitises the interviews conducted as part of the project and offers access to the raw footage for download, hosted by the HumBox website.

Through the violence of the Spanish Civil War, the dictatorship of Franco, the establishment of a constitutional monarchy and the emergence of Spain as a mass European travel destination, the country underwent massive social and economic changes during the 21st century. Many migrants returning to Spain after an extensive period in the UK have been faced with a radically different country from the one they left and their experiences had not been formally recorded, prior to this project.

Unless otherwise stated, content within this collection is licensed under Creative Commons.

This is a description of a themed collection. Themed collections are curated collections of archival resources, which are often digitised and made available through a portal on the internet. In this description, you will find information about the themed collection, including what it contains, and a link to where you can find out more and access the material.

Access this resource online: http://humbox.ac.uk/3790/

A Jisc funded digitisation initiative. Publisher: University of Southampton

This collection is of use to those teaching and studying modern languages, Spanish history, British history, sociology and the wider humanities and social sciences.

The interview footage is mostly in Spanish and is available to all users for download. Under the Creative Commons Licence, users may download the content, adapt the work for non-commercial purposes and cite the material in their studies, but the original author should be credited upon each usage. A synopsis is provided with most interviews, alongside ethnographic notes from each interview's researcher.