Impact of Secondary Residences on the Rural Space of the Gil u-Muntele Mare Mountains

The increasing in the number of secondary residences is a phenomenon which has affected the rural space of Romania after 1990, especially in the mountain area. In order to emphasize its impact, the present paper studies the case of villages in the Gil u-Muntele Mare Mountains. By studying the bibliography and the statistical data we got the general picture of this case and by interviewing regional and local authorities the real extent of the matter revealed. It resulted that in this area, secondary residences phenomena led to spatial and functional impact upon rural space and to social and economic consequences on local communities: secondary residences transform rural space into one with tourist characteristics: implantation of a suite of secondary residences, the local councils collect more taxes but also deal with overwhelmed facilities and pollution, while the native people copy a different lifestyle. In some cases, ownership transfer towards city residents or the small villages taken over by non-resident people speak of the extreme transformation of the rural space.