The image depicts a gathering of people in a desert setting, with a white trailer and mountains in the background, surrounded by a relaxed and casual atmosphere.
The image depicts a white camper van parked in a desert landscape, surrounded by bushes and mountains, with a table and chairs set up outside.
A woman in a hat and gloves pushes a wheelbarrow filled with hay on a dirt road in a rural area, surrounded by bushes and hills.
The image depicts a man harvesting grapes from a vine, shirtless with a tattoo on his right arm, wearing a black cap, and standing in front of a ladder and lush greenery.
A woman stands under a yellow umbrella on a dirt patch, wearing a hat and black clothing, with a shovel nearby and a mountainous background.
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Join our vibrant, off grid, multi-national community in Orgiva, Spain

  • Last activity : 23 Oct 2025

Availability

  2025 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    *** Looking help immediately to join our other workaway. We have a lovely bell tent or space for a campervan. Start from 4th October ***
    Please see the Help section for more details.

    We are starting a Riverbed redevelopment project. There has been chronic mismanagement of the river system since the reconquesidores, 500 years ago! Los Alpujarras were the green jewel of Arabia, a cultural verdant melting pot. Modern monoculture farming and short sighted greed capitalism are turning this green paradise into a desert. Luckily, there’s lots of likeminded people who can see the damage being done and are prepared to try to reverse the trend. Our community want to ensure the valley stays a green paradise. We have successfully fought and won illegal quarrying and entubing the of the ancient water channels (they tried to steal the irrigation water to feed the golf courses on the coast!) Now we want her back to her original glory. Starting on ours, then the neighbours all the way down the valley. We want to recreate & maintain ancient systems for irrigation channels. Many people lost a lot of their land in the last floods, which were in part due to the mismanagement and neglect of the river. Our plan so far is; Erosion minimisation, planting vetiver and replanting the area with local flora and rebuilding flood walls.
    The valley used to be a self sufficient community, producing everything for several families (they even had cows before the big fires in the 70s). We need help replanting, especially trees suited to this environment. There are too many avocado farms being installed in a drought riven area. Ancient olives, some hundreds of years old, are being replaced by cash crops. We want to replant with the naturally occurring trees (olive, almond, carob walnut, mulberry.) There’s been millennia of production here, the land and water are available, as long as we return to living in harmony with the earth, not plundering it.
    We also want to create a safe space for art and music. We´ve been holding events on this land and in this area for over 20 years and the communal areas need some TLC. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in this area, including open mic nights, dance classes, and many workshops.
    We aim to be mostly self sufficient space, so helpers will be able to learn about low impact, off grid living, alternative technologies, permaculture planning and gardening and recreating a zero net carbon homestead., as the ancients of this area strove to do.
    We are part of a self sufficient community, so helpers will also be able to build & strengthen the community, which we wish to leave as a functioning off grid haven for the next generation

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • Interests

    Interests

    Dancing
    Vegetarian or vegan
    Van life
    Politics / Social justice
    Self development
    Sustainability
    Pets
    Farming
    Events & social
    Charity work
    Plant care
    Performing arts
    Music
    History
    Gardening
    DIY & crafts
    Cooking & food
    Carpentry
    Books
    Animals
    Outdoor activities
    Sailing / Boating
    Nature
    Mountain
    Cycling
    Beach
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We specialise in gluten free and vegan delights but are also omnivores so can cater for everyone. We are complete foodies and love showing people how to cook our favourite dishes. We often put on a pop up restaurant so helpers are invited to join in with the meal preparation if they wish.
    We are trying to create a off grid, self sufficient finca in a valley that has been known throughout history to be very independent. We can provide walking tours of the area with our donkey, detailing the history and give herb and plant tours. This area has been settled for millennia, and there is a wealth of history from the Romans, through the Moors and the Spanish civil war. I am very knowledgeable of the local history. In our valley alone, there are many cultural and community-building events, but there are even more within the local town.
    This area caters to every need you could imagine. We ideally situated within an hour of the sea and the snowy mountains. We are close enough to the town to walk, cycle or drive in but far enough away to be rural and quiet. This is an amazing place to raise a family (there are many alternative schools and a midwifery school) or to relax, study, go to retreats, walk, hike, swim or party! You name it, it´s here.

  • Help

    Help

    *** Looking for a travelling couple, a single strong person to stay in our lovely bell tent and/or folks with their own camper to join our other workaway. Start from now ***


    Now autumn is upon us, heralding cooler days but still glorious sunshine, we are about to start up our next wave of the regeneration project..


    We are hoping to find 2 lovely souls who will join our other confirmed volunteer.; The projects this time are:
    -Install the new solar system.
    - Put in place check dams to help stop erosion .
    - Finish the bamboo shade cover over the guest caravan, where you will be staying.

    We start around 9.30 and finish sometime between 15h and 16h. Once we finish, the day is yours to enjoy...

    Please reach out if this appeals to you. We would really appreciate the help, as I have arthritis and my wife has a chronic shoulder injury. Plus, we are not so young anymore! We will take everything slow and easy and work to your rhythm.

    Thank you for considering us

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Intermediate
    French: Intermediate

    This host offers a language exchange
    My partner has been teaching English for 12 years and is more than happy to help We both speak some Spanish but are happy to have language exchanges to learn more!

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We have a caravan for volunteers or we have park up space for live-in vehicles or space for tents. We have beautiful canvas bell tents available also.
    There are basic amenities ( gravity fed shower, compost toilet, solar system) mobile phone coverage is great, in fact better than wifi!
    We would like visitors to commit to the minimum of 1 week. Longer-term visitors are welcome, but with a trial period to ensure we all get along. In the future, we are hoping that the right person or people will eventually visit who would like to be involved more long term. As we are getting older, we will need more help.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    We are a vibrant, off grid, multi-national, unintentional community within walking distance of Orgiva, capital of the Alpujarras. This area caters to every need you could imagine, literally! We are ideally situated within an hour of the sea and the snowy mountains. We are close enough to the town to walk, cycle or drive in but far enough away to be rural and quiet. This is an amazing place to raise a family (there are many alternative schools and a midwifery school) or to relax, study, go to retreats, walk, hike, swim or party! You name it, it´s here

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    As we are in the mountains, the WiFi can be sporadic if it is very windy or cloudy as all the internet in the valley is on a line of sight antennae. We found that we get better signal using our phones as hotspots and we are happy to share this, within reason (no big uploading or downloading) There is a co-working space in the town however, or we recommend getting a digimobil sim if you plan on staying in Spain for any length of time

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    As we are off grid, we cannot supply electric hook up, so campers will have to be self sufficient. There is a compost toilet on the land, however, if you wish to empty your chemical toilet or refill your water tanks, there is a campervan site especially for this in the local town.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    We have several dogs and cats here so cannot accept aggressive male dogs or ones that hunt. However, well behaved animals are more than welcome

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • My animals / pets

    My animals / pets

    Priscilla, Queen of the Alpujarras (5 years)

    Our donkey. She is very sweet, but also the punk princess. We don´t really know anything about donkeys, but we adopted her and it´s a learning process!

Host ref number: 655772878595

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Photos

The image depicts a white camper van parked in a desert landscape, surrounded by bushes and mountains, with a table and chairs set up outside.
A woman in a hat and gloves pushes a wheelbarrow filled with hay on a dirt road in a rural area, surrounded by bushes and hills.
The image depicts a man harvesting grapes from a vine, shirtless with a tattoo on his right arm, wearing a black cap, and standing in front of a ladder and lush greenery.
A woman stands under a yellow umbrella on a dirt patch, wearing a hat and black clothing, with a shovel nearby and a mountainous background.
The image depicts a gathering of people in a desert setting, with a white trailer and mountains in the background, surrounded by a relaxed and casual atmosphere.

Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host

Feedback



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