Farmhouse and abandoned village restoration project near Lugo, Spain

Details

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  Description

  We are Rebecca (43) and Anthony (36), both from the UK, who have spent the past few years living in beautiful northern Spain.
  
  Anthony is a qualified plumber and renewable energy engineer with a keen interest in photography and film. Rebecca is a professional translator and book author.
  
  Over the last few years Anthony has been a workawayer travelling around Europe, Turkey and Morocco in a Citroen Berlingo van. He met Rebecca, who was already living off-grid on a mountain in Spain, and she joined and travelled with him... and now we have settled in Galicia to embark on this next exciting journey together to create an eco retreat glamping farm!
  
  We have recently purchased an abandoned village with 2.5 hectares of land near Lugo, and are looking for help with renovation and building works with the long-term view of setting up our eco glamping site with hobbit homes and earth ship, sustainable veg garden with geo dome greenhouse & animal farm (sheep, chickens, bees), and eventually a farm shop/cafe.
  
  We are right at the beginning, only just moved in, so there is much work to be done and currently limited accommodation. There is a bell tent and camper van available with plenty of space in the land for van lifers/campers. The farmhouse itself is basically habitable and on grid, with works needed to the upstairs floors and roof.
  
  Along with plans to renovate the main house and take it off grid, initial plans include building a compost toilet, creating an outdoor area to host meditation retreats, building raised beds in the garden, clearing the abandoned village and pathways, and many other assorted activities!
  
  Friol is the closest town at only 15 minutes drive, it has supermarkets, cafe/bars and a bank. Lugo is the nearest city at 30 minutes drive and is famous for being the only city in the world to have a complete (walkable) Roman wall surrounding it.
  
  The cities of Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña are each 1 hour away. We are out in the countryside with no local bus route but will happily drop you into town should you wish to explore further, and of course you can always accompany us whenever we go to the city or off exploring ourselves.
  
  If you are a van lifer, an animal lover and/or you have building or gardening experience then this is a great project for you! We also would love to welcome people interested in a Spanish/English language exchange.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Anthony is actively learning Spanish and would love to engage in any type of language exchange. He is a renewable energy engineer and will be building off-grid systems, and is happy to teach anyone willing to learn about renewable energy and off-grid heat and power. If you have a special interest in permaculture, bio-construction, herbalism, or mycology we would love to benefit from your expertise!

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  Help

  Gardening - building raised beds, strimming, mowing, weeding etc.
  Renovations - roofing, painting, plumbing etc.
  Building - compost toilets, hobbit homes.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Intermediate

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  Accommodation

  Currently we have a bell tent available for workaways, and lots of land for people in campervans.
  Over the next few weeks we will be setting up our own campervan which will be available for workawayers. The house has a fully working shared bathroom and kitchen in the process of being renovated.

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  What else ...

  The Camino de Santiago passes very close to the farm. It is actually located very close to where two camino’s meet and join. The camino frances and camino primitivo. They meet just a 30 minute drive in a town called Melide which is a cultural hub for all pilgrims

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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

  We will soon be installing Starlink, so access to unlimited high speed internet will be available.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have much land for anyone wanting to stay in their own campervan amnd you can choose to be close to the house or find a nice hidden away spot somewhere. We will soon be turning our own campervan into a place for workways and plan to build hardstandings with electrical hookups in the future .

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Friendly dogs are always welcome.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week