Marina Vilalta, Spain’s oldest shepherdess and a symbol of the country’s fading rural heritage, passed away on Monday at her home in Bruguera, located in the eastern Pyrenees. She was 99 years old.

Born in 1927 in Ogassa, a small mountain village in Catalonia, Vilalta spent nearly her entire life—94 years—tending to sheep in the Ripollès mountains. She began accompanying her father on shepherding duties at the age of five and remained devoted to the practice until just days before her death. Despite the demanding nature of the work and the decline in its economic viability, Vilalta’s commitment to her flock never wavered. Family members suggested ending the tradition as her flock no longer provided a livelihood, but she resisted, viewing her sheep as integral to her identity.

Vilalta’s personal story reflects the struggles and resilience of a rural generation confronting modern challenges. As a child from a large, impoverished family, she experienced hardship and was separated from her parents due to food shortages. She never learned to read or write, partly due to embarrassment when attempts to acquire literacy in adulthood proved difficult. Instead, she relied on an extensive oral repertoire of traditional songs, which she used to express emotions and respond to life’s challenges. These songs became her “library,” embodying her memories and cultural heritage.

During her life, Vilalta participated in efforts to preserve Catalan folk music, including collaborations with cultural heritage projects. In 2022, she was honored with the Cross of Saint George, Catalonia’s highest civilian award, in recognition of her lifelong dedication to farming and rural traditions. She declined to attend the formal ceremony in Barcelona, citing her responsibility to tend the sheep and discomfort with the city’s heat. Instead, the then-president of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, traveled to her village to present the honor. Notably, Vilalta addressed him with informal familiarity, a gesture that caused a minor family stir.

Marina Vilalta was described by journalist Abraham Orriols, who authored her biography "A Life in the Mountains," as cheerful, strong, generous, and ever singing. She rejected nostalgia or lament for the past, embracing life fully until the end. In her final years, when asked about her imminent death, she accepted it matter-of-factly, expressing a calm readiness. Orriols noted that Vilalta did not campaign for cultural preservation through words, but rather through the simple joy of singing.

Vilalta was laid to rest beside her husband, Sebastià, in the cemetery near the mountains where she spent her life, closing a chapter on a vanishing rural way of life deeply connected to the Catalan landscape and traditions.