Last Saturday morning, instead of stumbling out for coffee (I just wish I'd gotten up early enough to do that first), I took the metro for half an hour to visit a squat as part of a guided tour with an American University that I had invited myself along on.
Can Masdeu, located in Parc de Collserola, in the higher elevations of Barcelona. It differs a bit from some of the ubiquitous urban squats of the city as much of its focus is growing food in the communal gardens, and aiming for a more sustainable existence. We were given an interesting, philosophical, and, erm, extremely long-winded tour by one of the residents, and while I don't think squat life is for me (or very sustainable if everyone engaged in it), I found some aspects very interesting. For example, the twenty-two residents of Can Masdeu use about 100 L of water a day, which is the average for each individual Barcelona citizen. They also had a bike workshop located in the house, and run programs in the neighbourhood teaching local children to repair bicycles to give them skills and foster community spirit. The overall focus of the place was very much building a community, and that's always a good thing in our isolated times...
gardens are worked by residents of the house and also by some members of the local community.
the first spring blossoms
"Please make sure the gate is always closed to prevent the wild boars coming in." : )
All there is to say about my 'outfit' is that it included Christmas socks... moving always does this to me... ; )
Ooh that sounds like quite the interesting day! I am loving the photos! (I love the shot of you at the metro, hehe)
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I love the way you write and these photos are stunning, especially the one of the tree. The trip sounds fascinating too, and the Christmas socks thing sounds like something I'd end up doing! xxx
ReplyDeleteso so amazing! love it :)
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That sounds really interesting! Also, I love your shoes.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of you in the tunnel. A question about this community: are the gardens communal?
ReplyDeleteNice!!!
ReplyDeleteThe problem, the shame. City authorities don't like Can Masdeu. :(
i love the spring when the trees start to blossom. beautiful pictures.
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pretty cool you got a tour by someone who actually resided there. i love that they have bike workshops. hope your settling in to your new place okay.
ReplyDeleteI love casual collegiate outfits like these, very lovely. And yes, must keep the boars out! :D
ReplyDeleteDifferent is good!
ReplyDeleteYou know, the only "big" city in Madeira also has something like those "city farms", for the people that live there to be able to grow their own vegetables too, like the ones that live in smaller places do.
I just love the sign about the wild boars. I think I've been there once for a uni project ages ago.
ReplyDeleteI was trying to translate the sign myself before reading your translation. I stumbled on the wild boars bit ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm always impressed when communities like this exist within a large city (or in close proximity to). Some family members of mine live in a somewhat similar self-sustaining community, but it's located in rural New Hampshire which is a far cry from the juxtaposition between Barcelona and Can Masdeu...
That look so interesting, I'd love to visit something like that! It's always inspiring to see lifestyles so different from ours...
ReplyDeleteVirginie ♥
That place sounds cool! Self-sufficieny and Growing Your Own is a lot more appealing in sunny Spain that it is here :)
ReplyDeleteHow interesting...I love the idea of a community growing their own crops :) I must learn to do this on my own (one of my to-do items).
ReplyDeleteBTW smashing photo of you in the metro!
I'm glad you invited yourself along- of course because it sounds like you had fun but also of course becuase I loved seeing this : ) Didn't know there were any squats like this outside of the city- def sounds like my cup of tea on so many levels! Beautiful pics you took of it too!
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