Spain
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We are Vero & Enrique, originally from Madrid although lived in London for 14 years. Before coming back to Spain we spent a year travelling and working around the world as workawayers, and have now started our own little project. During our trip we stayed with the most loving hosts and made wonderful friendships, so we can’t wait to receive workawayers that will not only help with the tasks but will become part of our project and our lives!
During our travels we worked mostly in permaculture and organic farming projects and now it’s our turn to have a go! We’ve recently bought a small house with a beautiful garden that needs a lot of work to become more sustainable so we are beginning to apply permaculture and organic gardening principles, also improving the energy efficiency of the house, installing solar panels...
We both work from home on Graphic Design and Motion Graphics, so might be glued to the screen for big chunks of time during the week. We’re also mindfulness instructors and practitioners and we’ll be delighted to share our knowledge and meditation practices with you if you’re up for it. We have a mindfulness online school that we hope will become a retreat centre one day.
Besides two crazy Black Castilian chickens, we have a couple of shy (at first) and super sweet cats: Boogie & Zoë who need (and often demand) A LOT of love and attention. Boogie is hyperactive and quite delicate, he's nearly died twice because he ate shoestrings and other non edible objects, so we all need to be extra careful and not leave dangling things around... Zoë is THE Queen, expects tickles and play and everyone around should be happy to be her humble servant.
Having been workawayers for a year, we understand very well the needs from travelers and the dynamic living together.
Please note it gets very hot in summer here and there's no AC yet!
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
We're both fluent in English (we spent 14 years in London) and if you're learning Spanish, we'll be happy to help you practice and improve. But most importantly, we'll share our culture, traditions, experience, food and wine with you! And we hope to learn from yours too :)
The Project:
We have a small house in a little over 1000 sq m of land where we aim to become as sustainable and self-sufficient as possible, we’re at an early stage, so still a long way to go! Hence any ideas, knowledge and skills you want to bring to make our lovely place
even lovelier and wonkier, will be most welcome.
Some of the tasks we need immediate help with are: restore a couple of storage rooms and organise a garage so we can use it as extra space/studio for workawayers, manage the veggie garden, build raised and wicking beds, fix the chicken coop and surroundings for our wonderful Pili & Mili, install an irrigation system, build a bio-pond... There are many other small jobs that need doing, the list grows everyday, no room for boredom here! :)
We love food and we eat everything but mainly veggies. If you have any dietary requirements, we’ll be happy to accommodate. Daily tasks like cooking, washing the dishes, cleaning the house and feeding cats and chickens are shared responsibilities so we expect that you take part in them.
We’re flexible with helping times and happy for you to organise your own time but we expect an average of 5 hours of help, 5 days a week.
There’s a chance that we might leave for a few days if you can stay to look after the kitties, the chicks and the veggies.
Who Are We Looking For:
We’re looking for people who are mature, independent, responsible, love animals and nature, respectful, hard working (please don’t come if you’re looking for a cheap holiday), relaxed, flexible (not physically, although it might come in handy too) and loaded with heaps of sense of humour. We’re partial to people with a passion (or several!), loads of initiative and looking to get knee-deep involved in this project. If you’ve a passion, skill or talent you want to share, do let us know!
Any plumbing, carpentry, electrical or building skills will be extra welcome!
We’re non-smokers, so if you smoke, we’ll ask you to do it in the garden.
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
You will have a private room and share the rest of the house and garden with us. We can accommodate up to 2 people sharing a room with a trundle bed, alternatively we can make space in the garage for a bed if you don’t want to share the room (only in the hot months as it has open ventilation), and we have a couple of tents we can install outside if you prefer to stay in the outdoors.
We have moved here very recently and our wonky house is in need of some renovation work but we have everything needed for a comfortable stay: wi-fi, washing machine, TV...
The Area:
The house is in a residential area so you’ll need a car or be able to drive to move around. We can lend you a car if you're over 25 and have a valid permit. We have a couple of bikes you can use as well. If you arrive by public transport we can pick you up in Talavera de la Reina.
Within walking distance there’s a supermarket and a couple of bars (everything else is either a long walk or a short car trip away). We’re super close to the dam where there’s a camping site with a lovely restaurant and terrace, and at the lake you can do windsurfing, canoeing, kayaking... About 10 mins by bike there’s a horseback riding school where you can go for a ride for about 20 euros per hour. There are a couple of nice public swimming pools close-by.
There are plenty of things to do in your free time. You can visit the beautiful and lively town of Talavera de la Reina (20 mins away), explore the Sierra de San Vicente (30 mins away) and hike in the nearby mountains of Gredos (1 hr away). You can also visit Toledo, Candeleda, Arenas de San Pedro, Valle del Tiétar, La Vera... which are about 1 hr away from here. And if you fancy a bit of urban life, Madrid is only 1.5 hrs away.
Should you decide to get in touch, do let us know what caught your attention about this project, it's nice to know people actually read the profile before contacting! :)
We can’t wait to hear from you and share a bit of our life with you!
Vero, Enrique, Boogie, Zoë, Pili & Mili
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
We have Wi-Fi, printer, scanner... and we will provide a desk, a chair and crazy amounts of coffee!! You can also work in the garden!
Theres room in the garden for a small/medium campervan.
Two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
