This paper explores Pedro Simón’s Los ingratos , winner of the 2021 Primavera Novel Prize. It focuses on the protagonist David’s journey from a small Spanish village to the city, examining the "ingratitude" inherent in the progress of a generation. By analyzing the character of Emérita, the domestic worker who becomes the emotional anchor of the family, this study highlights the forgotten sacrifices of rural Spain and the melancholic realization of debts that can never be fully repaid.

Abstract

Analyze the dynamics of a middle-class family moving to a "backwards" village for work.

Why this story resonates beyond Spain—it is a story of aging, memory, and the universal experience of outgrowing one's home.

Contrast the biological mother's aspirations with Emérita's grounded reality.

How the meaning of family duty shifted from the 1970s to the present day. Suggested Bibliography Simón, Pedro. Los ingratos . Espasa, 2021.

Los ingratos is not merely a coming-of-age story but a social critique of how modernization required the emotional abandonment of the previous generation.

Briefly introduce the España vaciada (hollowed-out Spain) of the 1970s.