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Host rating
100 %
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Last replied
28 Jul 2026
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Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
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Feedback
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Find your perfect host
Min stay requested: 1 month or more
Details
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Description
Hello lovely people! Come and join us in beautiful green Galicia, NW Spain, for long-term help in our garden and home. We are currently looking for help next spring from February onwards.
You: Digital Nomad(s), or early retiree(s) looking to connect with an area, or maybe someone looking to move to Galicia wanting a base. Happy to stay for between two and six months; you will enjoy helping to grow your own food, harvesting and preserving it. You will want to help me make my large allotment more productive and less labour intensive and be happy to stack and chop firewood or attack brambles for fun! You will also want to live in a clean and tidy space which you will be happy to spring clean before you leave. You will definitely be responsible cat lovers, and be happy to feed and cuddle three cats of very different personalities if we are away as well as looking after the gardens.
Ideally, we are looking for a couple as you will be spending time alone at the property; responsible, independent, mature outlook, tidy and respectful. No smokers only please. Good English is essential and Spanish is useful as this is not an area where English is widely spoken.
If you are interested please read our whole profile before replying and tell us the names of our cats and why you'd like to come to Galicia. Please state how long you would be able to stay in your introductory email.
Thank you and we look forward to meeting you.😁
A bit about us: Lisa & Stewart are an English couple who moved to beautiful rural Galicia in 2007, self-restoring our old stone farmhouse. Having almost finished this task, in 2014 we took on a second project in the same hamlet for Lisa’s mum. We completed this with the help of an army of wonderful Workawayers.
Lisa is a passionate gardener, cook, and baker. She loves experimenting and is likely to force feed you cake. She also likes to talk…ask Stewart!
Stewart is a master of many trades, having learnt the hard way, through hands on work on our house. He likes to keep busy and is happy to work with our Workawayers on tasks.
As we rush through our sixties and seventies respectively, we find we need help to keep our homes and gardens looking good and staying productive so we decided to use our second house as a home for our lovely long-stay Workawayers.
In exchange for your help, you will have a cosy two-bedroomed stone cottage with wood-burning range cooker (in winter) and log fire. NB in winter, our homes are heated purely by wood-burning stoves which get you warm twice, stacking the wood and burning it! We do not have central heating. We will show you how to use the range in winter.
There is a living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom with washing machine and a small courtyard garden at the property. It will be your responsibility to keep this clean and tidy, including the garden.
You will be asked to help no more than 15 hours a week either gardening, cleaning or cat/house sitting. We do not provide food but you can grow things you like to eat if you are staying a while as well as sharing in our harvest.
We expect helpers to be independent, responsible and capable of working alone once set on a task but we also enjoy going out for a meal or a drink with you and showing you something of our wonderful area. If you like to cook, we are very happy to do meal shares on occasions and have had fun with this in the past, discovering new recipes from around the world.
Some of the tasks you might be asked to help with are: fruit picking and preserving, cutting trees, stacking wood, weeding, planting, and watering, or looking after both houses and our three beautiful cats while we are away.
Laranxa, the orange cat, is everyone's friend and the leader of the pack. He will supervise everything you do and sneak into your bed if he can. Jelí is a live wire. Initially timid with new people but follows his brother's lead so will soon be asking for belly rubs. He rarely sits still and loves taking people for a walk in the woods around our homes. Tiger is our elderly ex-feral outdoor cat. He has never been part of a household until last year, takes a while to get used to strangers but is an absolute cuddle bunny once you win his trust.
Your own transport is not essential but is useful for seeing more of Galicia. We are a half hour stroll to a small town with supermarkets, bars, and restaurants. There is a bus service there to major cities and we are always happy to give you pointers of places to see. Galicia is truly a unique area so come and discover a new aspect to Spain. We look forward to hosting you soon.
No smokers only please. -
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Light gardening
Creative DIY projects
Animal Care
Help around the house
Light maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
House & pet sitting
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Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are English and have lived in our adopted country for 19 years. We therefore have many experiences to share with people. In addition we love to hear new stories from our helpers from around the world. We believe social interaction keeps the world going. We love Galicia and are more than happy to share this beautiful place with you.
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Help
Volunteer tasks will vary from day to day and month to month depending on the season. We are currently looking for long-term helpers of two months or more to help in the garden and house sit. You will only be working a few hours a week (depending on the projects) so plenty of time to explore or do your own thing. No food with this placement, but you will share in the veggies and fruit we will grow and pick together.
We have a number of garden projects which we would love your help with. We are also always looking for enthusiastic outdoor help bramble clearing, fruit picking, leaf collecting (for mulching the beds) and maybe some DIY. A willingness to get stuck in is a quality we look for.
We have a large organic allotment which keeps us pretty much in vegetables, fruit and nuts year round. You will be able to share in this bounty and help me make it more productive. In spring everything grows at a pace and there is lots of weeding to be done. From June through to November there is plenty of opportunity for fruit and nut picking and to learn preserving skills in the kitchen if you wish (drying, jam making, bottling). In winter there is wood cutting, leaf collecting (for mulch) and more bramble clearing to be done.
We look forward to meeting you. -
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate -
Accommodation
You will have your own comfortable, separate accommodation with an ensuite bedroom, large lounge and kitchen and small courtyard garden. You are also welcome to grow things you like to eat in the allotment if you are staying a while. Please note we are trying to be as eco friendly as possible and would appreciate your co-operation with this. The house is heated by wood-burning stoves in winter; there is NO central heating. We will provide wood and explain how to use the stoves if you are not familar.
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What else ...
Galicia is one of the most beautiful areas of Spain; unspoilt, tranquil, green and friendly. There is lots to do nearby. We are situated in a tiny hamlet with woodland walks and tracks outside the door. Both houses are still only a 20min walk into a small market town with supermarkets, restaurants and cafes. In return for your enthusiasm we offer you your own comfortable accommodation. Food is not included but we are happy to share veggies and fruits from the garden. Non smokers ONLY please. Digital nomads are welcome. We have good fibre 5G internet. We also have an extensive library of paperbacks and DVDs. The Ribeira Sacra is a beautiful and not widely-known area and well worth exploring. We are happy to take some trips out to explore with you or point you in the right direction. On the 1st of each month there is a local farmers market and the walled Roman city of Lugo is a fascinating trip for history buffs. In winter the thermal spa baths in Ourense are a must. If you wish to explore further afield we have a resources file available with lots of ideas accessible by public transport. These past 12 years we have had lots of help from wonderful Workawayers. We are looking forward to meeting more lovely people soon.
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A little more information
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Internet access
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Limited internet access
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We have pets
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We are smokers
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Can host families
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Can host digital nomads
You will have your own quiet accommodation. We have cable 5G internet at the property.
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Space for parking camper vans
Happy to host campervans but do message to discuss your requirements as flat space is at a premium here and larger vans may be difficult to accommodate.
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How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
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My animals / pets
Tiger
Our elderly feral boy turned lapcat. If you have cuddles to share, Tiger will love you for it.
Jellicoe Jones (Jelí)
Our jumping jeli bean. Loves coming out for a walk
Larry Laranxa
An orange cat...if you know you know!
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (27)
It is a charming and very comfortable place; we were able to explore the area, enjoy the peace and quiet, and stay close to nature.
The villagers are very friendly, and even … read more
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(5.0)
It is a charming and very comfortable place; we were able to explore the area, enjoy the peace and quiet, and stay close to nature.
The villagers are very friendly, and even … read more
The town of Taboada is a charming village we enjoyed walking to daily (about 20 … read more
Our time there was fantastic. They were always willing to help with anything we needed (for … read more
Bivi is a lovely bubbly lady, very passionate about everything. She is a great cook and often brought treats over to share with us. Fernando was really … read more
Both are digital nomads but they worked so hard for us in their spare time: They cut down trees and split the wood, kept the garden tidy and stacked a mountain of firewood. … read more
Thank you so much for the kind words – it truly means a lot! I absolutely loved my time with you both and feel very lucky to have had the chance to care for your beautiful home and gorgeous cats (especially winning over the grumpy one – total highlight! 🐾). It was such a peaceful, grounding experience and I genuinely felt like … read more
They were so flexible, happily taking on a housesit for us at a couple of days notice, almost obsessively clean and tidy - the house was gleaming when we returned - and always … read more
If you’ve ever wished you could clone yourself to get all those jobs done you never get round to, that’s what having these two was like. Rhonda was a demon weeder who you can’t stop once she gets going (if you value your life!) and cleans the house in the same way. Mark … read more
I hope to see them soon because I could love to share more cooking time with Lisa or share more … read more
Camila was a hard worker and importantly enjoyed chatting to mum while she worked in the garden. She is also a fab cook, ask for her Argentinian empanadas! Delicious.
Camila was tidy and … read more
It was our first Workaway and we are so grateful to have such a wonderful experience. We helped out … read more
Thank you for a wonderful time. Although it was difficult to talk to because my English is poor, I learned a lot. Thank you for your patience and learning, as well as unique experience (for the first time in my life I cut my tree with an axe and i am very happy. I hope that in the winter will be warm).
Lisa is the best cook I've ever met. Now I … read more
We were very kindly taken out a few times to absorb Galician culture, meet new friends and also to … read more
Not only were they skillful and willing workers but within hours it felt like we had 2 old friends staying rather than 2 strangers.
We truly enjoyed your company, the thrilling late night chess … read more
We had laughs, enjoyed great food, met lovely locals and ex pats from all over the world and enjoyed working on Iris's … read more
From the first moment I felt as I was visiting some old friends, as they were really nice to me, they even took me to see the surroundings (a near swimming pool, the local bars...)
Related … read more
Thank you so … read more
