To live in the countryside or not

I read that Ada Colau, former mayor of Barcelona, has had to leave her apartment because she cannot make ends meet. She is separated and has two children.

Housing is the most expensive expense for those of us who have not had the luck to inherit anything, quite the contrary. But there are others, too, which are very disproportionate. For example, the family phone plan that gives you the right to Wi-Fi, streaming platforms, and unlimited data. Or water and electricity (if you live in the countryside you have to water, sometimes, for your own enjoyment, of course).

I would tell Ada Colau to do as we, and others, did: we left the Barcelona conurbation out of conviction and for money. To live close to nature and plant vegetables. But I cannot tell her that, because it is not a saving. If there were a good public transport network, with frequent, fast trains, with buses when there is nothing else, many people would go to live in these beautiful, historic villages, in these magnificent houses so fit for being happy as in fairy tales, currently empty. But there is not. Going to Barcelona—where we often have to work—is five zones of Ferrocarrils and a long trip. Renfe is cheaper, but we don't dare. Often, to go nearby (for example to Berga) we have to go by car, because there is no public transport. If we want to reach the Autonomous [University] without having to make a journey to Manresa to then immediately take a bus back (it means waking up before the neighbor's roosters) we have to go by car. Many students from Vic, Berga, or our area, even, rent an apartment on campus. The liters of gasoline we spend living in the countryside multiply the savings on rent or mortgage from when we did not live in the countryside. And with public transport alone, you cannot make it.