The site of El Bovalar is one of the best exponents of the settlement pattern in the Northeastern Hispania during the Visigoth period. The complex, comprising a basilica, a necropolis and a residential area, has been excavated during the second half of the 20th century and the documentation of the archaeological record presents severe problems. There is a debate about its possible interpretation as either a monastery or a village. The work we present here focuses on the architectural analysis of the residential area in order to obtain more arguments for the debate. This approach also allows us to offer a clearer image of the daily life in a rural settlement from the 6th-8th centuries.