El primer habitante

Today we met the first resident of Bárcena. Carlos bought the large corner house in Bárcena 40 years ago. Since the purchase, he has hardly ever used the house, until recently. Thanks to his retirement, he can now live in the house full-time.

Carlos had seen our sign and contacted us. Since then, we have had some email correspondence. We are very happy with each other. He finds our project a great initiative, and we are happy to have a permanent resident. Not only does it create a cozy atmosphere, but it also helps a lot against theft or vandalism.

He speaks Spanish clearly, and therefore we (Maaike) had a pleasant conversation during our picnic. The nice thing is that he is knowledgeable about technology because he worked as a technology teacher. Additionally, he has a plot of land nearby where he grows red fruits ecologically, which nicely complements our food forest.

In the last image you can zoom in to find the first solar panel on Carlos roof. That to is a good start!

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Never alone in an abandoned village

One might expect that being in an abandoned village will be lonely. But a part from Carlos and all the people who we knew were going to visit us, everyday there were people visiting the village. let's start with the people we knew were going to visit us in order of appearance. Mirthe, Rick and Vos who came visiting with their camper to find out if they want to live in Bárcena and to help us some days. They are now in the process of preparing to move to Bárcena so it seems that the answer is yes! Maaike's Brother Teun, his wife Marieke and daughter Sarah , who were there for 2 weeks and took a lot of trips with the kids and cooked for us almost every day! But most important: they really liked being there, so hopefully they will come often when we live there. As an ultra runner Teun explored the area by running and cycling. For example he explored routes to Lences and found three different ones. Tibor's daughter Fiona , who helped a lot with ...

travelling to Bárcena without a car

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The first week of work

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