Host list, Search for families and organisations

Area: Asturias

Janet and John live in Asturias. We are now at the end of our fifth year of so called retirement here and love it. This is definitely not the Costas! We live in Valdes in Asturias….. a county of rugged coasts with super ( but often stony) beaches. The interior (where we live at 270 meters high in the hills and 30 minutes from the nearest beach) is largely mixed forest of sweet chestnut, oak, ash and beech with plantations of northern pine and eucalyptus. The valley bottoms and tops are mainly green pasture for cattle grazing or silage with flatter fields with maize for cattle. It is beautiful – a lake district without the lakes and without the crowds. Weather – This is green Spain so we have clouds and rain. The temperature is higher than the south of England – a greater noticeable difference in the back part of the year. When we bought our house we wanted a house with some land to grow veggies on. We ended up with two houses (one “the barn” had no floor and was only home to spiders and cobwebs – we called it the barn because it was the oldest and still had the cattle feeding stalls), a traditional Horeo, 5 fincas (fields - one with a small maize mill – not functioning) and two Montes (bits of hillside with lots of trees on.) Thank goodness three of our neighbours keep most of the fields clean by grazing cattle, sheep and growing grass, so I am left with only the finca (6500 m2 )below the house to look after. We have six chickens and two dogs (and a cat that adopted us). During the year we grow most of our own vegetables. John does most of the work on the land while Janet writes and directs two musical shows a year for her group of performers back in England

Area: ANDALUCIA, Cadiz province, Barbate

We are a french family of four, with 2 kids (7 1/2 and 3 years old). We have worked abroad (Africa, Central America, Pakistan) for years, and after few years in Paris, we decided to settle down in Costa de la Luz (Cadiz province, Andalucia), wich is a perfect place to raise children (and for adults too!). We know the area since 20 years now, and have lived here full time for 9 years. We live in a beautiful and preserved environement, in a old hacienda, in a natural park of pine trees. He runs an hotel/bar/restaurant (with partners) and I am naturopath/nutritionist (give consultations, write recipe books ...). Our children are healthy, easy going on and bilingual (french/spanish). They love receiving friends and visitors. It is a great place for great walks in the park, we are 5 km from unspoilt beach, you can also enjoy many activities (horseriding, surf, bycicling ...). We can drop you at the bus station when you want to visit more of Andalucia on your day off. And when we drive out (everyday to school and more), we drop you so you can visit easily the nice little town around (Barbate, Vejer ...).

Area: Cadiz Spain

Hi my name is Chris and my partner is Joanna. We live in the countryside about 3 miles from the beautiful town of Vejer de la Frontera.( We have some grown children who occasionally visit ) I have been a teacher ,truck driver and just qualified as a plumber and Joanna been a teacher,translator and led various courses and written a book. We are both into personal development,sustainable living,growing veg and enjoying life. We enjoy good food ;-] having fun and working in the garden as much as we can

Area: Asturias (N-Spain)

Asturias is a beautiful part of Northern Spain, great for hiking! We have mountains and the sea is nearby. This is a combined listing for two projects participating in our small animal welfare organisation, 25 km apart in the East of Asturias. 1) Small farm: I live in a farmhouse with 2 ha of land, taking care of a varying population of our own dogs plus dogs to be rehomed from the local shelter (9-13 dogs) We also have two donkeys - Yoana, who was born here and Jack from the donkey paradise. The neighbourr's horse was alone in a small meadow, so she is with us as well now. There is a lot to be done in and around the house: cleaning (first of all, dog hairs...), repairs, fencing, the vegetable garden and the other gardens.. Ongoing work - and the most important is of course taking care of the dogs and participate at the shelter on Saturdays (walking the dogs there). It would be good if you have a driver's licence! I prefer volunteers staying for 1-3 weeks. 1-2 volunteers is our max. as I am renovating the second house. Accommodation (see photos) Spare bedroom. In summer you can pitch a tent in the dog-free meadow. 2) The Donkey Paradise en Arobes: El Paraíso del burro - 25 km from Ceceda and 8 ha of land This project, set up by Dutch Marleen, welcomes volunteers preferably for longer periods as getting to know the 20+ donkeys does take some time. The vast area of land, the stables, the "cabaña" and the vegetable garden also need attention. This year she hopes to complete some building work, so building experience is very welcome! The "paradise" started 2 years ago as a home for old, retired donkeys. There are also 2 horses, a mule, 5 dogs and several cats. Accommodation: Spare bedroom in the main house, caravans for volunteers. Tents in summer. Marleen can accommodate 2-4 volunteers Contact: Please state in your e-mail which project you would like to spend your time volunteering. You can also combine your stay of course, as we are only 25 km apart. We always welcome enquiries by e-mail - do not just show up at the gate though! Volunteers need to speak English and they must like the outdoor life as the fincas are quite remote (1 and 3 km from the village). Asturias is in the North of Spain, between Galicia and Cantabria (and then Basque country). This region is called the Costa Verde and as you can imagine it looks more like Scotland than what most people expect when thinking of Spain. It's an ideal area for hiking, mountain walking (Picos de Europa!), mountain climbing, canoeing and of course we also have beaches (no sun guarantee though). Oviedo is at 30/55km and Gijon at 60/75km. Of course you can arrange to take a few days off to go hiking in the Picos or walk part of the Camino de Santiago - we are very flexible. You will find stories about the volunteers our blog - send us a message and we will send you the various links where you can read more! We think volunteering and hosting should be a fun experience, positive for both parties.

Area: Catalonia

I went to study to Switzerland when 15. When finished my studies moved to Spain. For years lived among Spain, Andorra and Chile, Argentine working at the begining as ski instructor and then working as ski mag journalist. Moved here to Valle de Aran, 6 years ago. The hotel is its 4th year. It is a 14 room hotel in the old quater at Vielha, capital of this Valley. Since the begining we offered Japanese food at the hotel. But now I am changing the direction of the hotel to ecological way (from what I can..) and will hopefully incorporate macrobiotic, yoga in the hotel. The hotel is located 15km from Baqueira Beret ski resort. All my family live in Japan.