Going remote is spreading quickly, and it is not a shock. Seeing your acquaintances traveling while working makes everybody think: Why would I wait for a vacation to see the world?. And people are right. With so many jobs being online these days, there are no reasons why you would sit in an office if that is not what makes you productive.

While working remotely, people have more freedom to choose how they create a life-work balance that suits them, and coworking and coliving places exist to make that easier.

With that exact philosophy, five friends, Ben, Domi, Lucca, Alex, and David, united around their love for surfing, nature, balance, and Tenerife, and decided to create a coliving and coworking space made for a perfect workation. And that’s how Maraya was born.

Disclaimer: This piece of content may contain some affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase or book through one of our links, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Supporting the island’s philosophy

Tenerife just might be one of the best places to find this work-life balance, slow down from the fast-paced world, and find your inner peace in nature and by the water.

But Maraya’s house complements this lifestyle and what the island has to offer even more.

Their story is quite unique, and the creation of Maraya is a story in itself. Today, we’re safe to say that this is a perfect spot for somebody looking for a month-long workation escape.

With carefully designed outdoor spaces, dozens of areas to work, chill, or hang out, and an energy that just flows through the whole property, Maraya will inspire you to be in the moment and pamper yourself a bit.

How to get to Maraya Coliving

Maraya is in the small town of Candelaria in the north of Tenerife, a region known for beautiful landscapes and black volcanic beaches.

The town is only a 20-minute drive from the capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 30 minutes from the Tenerife North airport, and 40 minutes from Tenerife South airport.

To get to Maraya from the north airport, you can either take a taxi for about 35 euros, a bus, or have Maraya staff pick you up for 30 euros.

The bus is the cheapest option, but it is also the longest. You will have to change one bus, and it takes about an hour altogether. Still, it’s not bad at all, and Maraya’s team will pick you up at the bus station.

Candelaria and the neighborhood

In Candelaria, there is simply everything you need: a small mall, a supermarket, a barbershop, etc. Since Maraya’s house is a bit out of the city center, it will take about 20 minutes walking the town and just 5 minutes by car. Either way, it’s pretty close.

The closest shop is 10 minutes on foot, but it’s a small one. For bigger purchases, it’s better to go to the town, but not to worry too much about logistics—Maraya has two cars that colivers can borrow, and they often carpool to the supermarkets, beaches, etc.

The neighborhood is cozy, quiet, and homely, so being tucked away but also close to the bigger town and cities kind of makes it a perfect nook.

How it all started

As the guys tell us, preparing the house, the yard, and the garden was a process in itself. Of course, every house renovation takes time and energy, but in Maraya’s case, they took it as a project on its own and poured their souls into these renovations.

Imagine five friends taking on this huge project on a super fun island, inviting a bunch of friends to help out, and just experimenting on the way. It sounds like a movie plot, right?

We can only imagine how it was, but the complete renovations took nine months, and about 30 people gave their contributions. In Maraya’s official video, there’s a special thanks to all the folks who helped build it.

These renovations gathered an awesome group of people and created new relationships, friendships, and even love. The whole building team was super international, and you could say it kind of set foot on what Maraya’s community will be like.

When we say they put their souls into it, we don’t only mean their focus, sweat, and hard work. We mean that every corner of the house has a unique story, and carries a special moment and memory of why and how it came to life.

Typically, when building a coliving, a hostel, a hotel, or anything like it, renovations are only one step towards the goal. What you can feel in Maraya is that working on the house was a goal in itself.

It’s kind of comparable to building a home. The process is completely different when you’re building and decorating a rental versus doing this for your home.

The coziness of a home is created only when people leave their personalities on every step, and that creates an energy that no rental can ever compete with.

Well, Maraya has this exact energy, and you can truly feel it the first step you take onto the property.

The rooms

The house has nine rooms, eight private and one dorm, with four shared and two en-suite bathrooms. Every room has a unique theme that goes with its name. You will find descriptions of each of the rooms on Maraya’s website, but, interestingly, as we learn, the names and themes were not planned at first.

As Ben, one of the 5 co-founders, explains, they were deciding whether they should name the rooms at all because they were struggling a bit to come up with names naturally and didn’t want to force it. Then, one day, David, another co-founder, came from Germany with a collection of artwork. It was a bunch of paintings and pictures with all kinds of different vibes.

So, they sat down and decided to categorize the artwork according to the themes and overall feelings they gave and add them to the rooms; and that is how they ended up attributing the themes to the rooms.

Even though the whole property has a certain focal design, something that I would describe as a mix between retro and boho, the subtle decor on the walls, desks, and bedding, is what gives each room a unique personality, so we suggest asking the founders about your room when you book it. The stories, inspiration, and work behind it are what will make it special.

A tribute to the Canaries

Throughout the whole property, the guys left small tributes to the Canary Islands. After all, they wanted to show their appreciation for their new home island.

The most notable ones are the San Borondon Room and little a something that you will discover in Room 1968. Keep reading, but remember – once you’re there yourself, asking questions will open you up to all sorts of secrets like these.

San Borondon Island

The room San Borondon is proudly named after a legend of a mystical island in the Canaries that seems to appear and disappear throughout history. Not only do some people actually claim to have seen the island but there are also representations of it on some maps. Although many people have sailed west to try and discover it, up to today, it’s still only a legend.

So—to go with the theme—the room San Borondon was not supposed to be a room at all! It was planned for the house to have only eight rooms, until one of the co-founders’ parents came to visit, and while receiving a tour, recognized that one of the empty spaces would make an amazing room. With ocean views, they thought it would be a waste not to use it.

The guys agreed, and, inspired by the story of an island that appears and disappears, they named it San Borondon. Also, being the only room overlooking the ocean, it was meant to name it after the island and subsequently, after a legendary surfing wave that carries the same name.

Room 1968

Another room that honors the islands’ culture is the dormitory, or room 1968.

This six-bed mixed dormitory is equipped with locally custom-made bunk beds, made from a special type of wood found only in the Canaries. The shared space evokes the period when community and communal exploration were at their prime – the late 60s, but also gives privacy and provides a cozy space for people to make their own nests.

All beds have an built-in storage space, a cozy lamp, and curtains made from traditional Canarian festive costume material that give you privacy.

We spent some time in this room ourselves and, honestly, it felt like how I imagine being on a transatlantic ship (just without the rocking ha-ha). It was truly a unique and super cozy experience.

The garden

The garden is another typical Canarian thing Maraya incorporated, and it actually had a significant role in their property choice.

They were already thinking how it would be cool to have a garden with their own produce that they and the colivers could use, and this property just had an amazing space for that. It needed work, of course, like everything else, but it was also something that the guys enjoyed doing.

During the construction of the property, many locals came just to see the garden and share their tips on how to care for it, what to plant, what not to plant, etc.

One of the biggest influences on their decisions came from a permaculture veteran, a lovely Cuban named Sergio, who helped the team understand how to sustainably grow fruits and veggies. Sergio passed away recently, so having this amazing garden today that feeds Maraya’s community is something like a tribute to this genius man.

The central area

The outside kitchen, which is also the main kitchen, is truly the focal point of the house and the community.

The fully equipped kitchen with cozy yellow lights for the ambience, good speakers to play music in the evenings, a big table to gather the community, and all that right next to a pool, is what makes this house alive.

This is the place where all 20-25 people come together four nights a week for the family dinner, share breakfast every morning, or just come to have a coffee together and hang out.

As Ben says, the outdoor kitchen is the place you should come to if you care for some company. Just go there, sit and relax, and someone will join in minutes.

Maraya’s Community

Maraya’s community is pretty big. As we mentioned above, there are typically between 20 and 25 people co-living at a time. A portion of that number goes to Maraya’s team and volunteers who help the place run and keep the community engaged.

In the one week that we were there, there were a few changes in the team: a few people going, and a few coming in, so I would say we met between 25 and 30 people in total.

Of course, you should not expect to connect with everyone, especially if you only spend a few days together, but normally, there will be at least 10 people with whom you can spend at least a week or two so you can make some workation friends.

Colivers

Most people who come are indeed working remotely, and they mostly stay 3-4 weeks.

During the workweek, the atmosphere is quite tranquil because most people work remotely, and in the afternoon hours, people are ready to disconnect. And that’s something that most colivers here have in common.

Most evenings, people often gather around the ping pong table or have some drinks and play a few board games. It’s something that connects the community and helps relax the group after a long day.

Maybe a bit different from other colivings is the fact that, other than individuals, many people come here as couples or friends. It might be more suitable given the number of colivers, so when you come with a friend or a partner, you won’t disrupt the group dynamics which can happen in smaller colivings with only 6-8 people.

Volunteers

As mentioned, another part of the community are the volunteers, and their presence definitely gives a special energy to the place. They also feel like a constant in a changing place. There will always be at least one of the volunteers outside, happy to have a conversation, help you out, share a laugh, etc.

Community building and activities

Maraya’s community is big, and there are sometimes people coming with their friends. And for some, it might feel hard to spark that connection with others because it might seem that everyone has a group.

Because of that, but also for the ultimate workation experience, Maraya’s team organizes activities that help people connect, strengthen their relationships, and just help the colivers have a fun and relaxing time.

Working 8 hours in today’s world, then relaxing with, again, your computer, makes it hard for some people to think of ways of relaxing without phones or laptops, and Maraya does a great job helping with that.

They stay organized and inform their colivers about the activities via Slack, but also by writing and updating the weekly schedule blackboard with activity names and staff members who will manage them.

Every week, a new weekly schedule is put in the kitchen area where everyone can see it, and the weekends are left so the group can decide together or guests can propose their own ideas.

Some activities are in the house and some outside like a road trip to a nearby town, a picnic on the beach, a hike, or similar.

Besides these unique group activities, there are also free yoga classes 5 days a week, and sometimes on the weekends.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t make time to join the sessions for the one week we were in Maraya, but others have told us it is quite nice. They do it on the rooftop so it’s quite lovely in the early mornings as a way to start a day, or in the evenings before dinner as a way to slow down.

Here are some of the activities that were scheduled during our time in Maraya:

Group ping pong

While ping pong is something colivers play with or without it being organized, having a dedicated ping pong night was also very exciting.

There are some games that you can play as a group, like standing in a circle around the table and playing until you drop the ball. The last man standing is the winner. Instead of playing two people at a time, or two doubles, everybody can join and experience the vibe. It can get pretty funny and competitive in a good way.

As previously mentioned, ping pong is such a simple activity that has shown so many benefits for after-work relaxation, group bonding, for shy people to loosen up a bit, and just as a good activity before going to bed.

It’s probably because it is an activity that disconnects your mind from the screen, your work, and your problems, and connects you to the moment, letting your mind have a rest.

That is probably one of the reasons that many companies also have ping pong tables in their leisure rooms, and that a lot of people in Maraya also choose to play a few games on their lunch breaks.

Backyard bonfire

One other community-building activity that we had was a bonfire. One of the volunteers made a bonfire, and we all relaxed around it, chilling and listening to music.

For the staff, it was quite a special night because two of their members (one was David, one of the founders) were leaving their positions in Maraya. It was a very intimate atmosphere. There’s something special in sitting and just listening to the fire crackling, looking at the flames, and warming up against it.

In Maraya, the activities are mostly like that—organized but very casual. The point is to relax and disconnect, enjoy the moment, and have a good rest for the next day. Everybody harvests the energy differently, so Maraya tries to spread out activities throughout the week that can answer different needs.

Someone needs a silent sit-down next to the warmth, and someone enjoys an active game of ping pong. For someone, that will be a hike, and for another person, a session of team-building games.

We’re all different, and with that many people, finding a balance can be challenging. But, that’s why Maraya has many volunteers who bring a unique energy and can offer different activities to the colivers.

Team building on the rooftop

Team building, or as Juli, one of the lovely volunteers, likes to call them—community building—is a great activity for people to get to know each other, loosen up a bit, and work together.

One night after dinner, a bunch of us got up on the roof and Juli led the community-building with some super fun activities that made us feel like kids again and helped us get to know each other through questions and answers, word games, and pairing up to resolve some small quests.

Chilean board game night

As we said, it’s best if the activities that are happening in a week have some uniqueness to them so that people can join the activities that really match their energies and that suit them.

Board game night was one of the activities for people who like to relax by switching their brain effort to a fun game, try to compete and win, and just experience a bit of that board-gaming adrenaline before going to sleep.

On one quiet Thursday night, another volunteer, Ramiro, decided that he would teach us a game that is very often played in his home country—a game called Cachos. It turns out that many countries have their version of the game. In English, it is known as Liar’s dice.

If you know about Liar’s dice, then you might guess that the quiet night became a bit crazy and that it was unclear until the end who would take the winning title.

The game was super-fun and the perfect activity to end the night with. There are also other board games available in Maraya, like Bang! and Catan, and many others. There’s plenty of room for board gaming, and if you have your own with you – you can add some spice yourself!

Showing other countries’ traditions through games (like the one with Ramiro) also seems like a great idea, but also simply sharing a game that you love. If people love it, it will be a nice memory to remember you by.

Day trips

As a part of their activities, the Maraya team often organizes day trips to nearby beaches, restaurants, towns, or other places on the island that are great for experiencing things like diving, snorkeling, watching the sunset, etc.

Of course, going to a restaurant or on a surfing trip will not be completely free, but you do get a free local recommendation, which is something of enormous value in a tourist place.

The guys have gone through the island from length to breadth, so they have some true recommendations of places they love and are willing to share them with you.

It’s a great way to explore the island and avoid tourist traps that are everywhere, especially in the south.

Get inspired for coworking

Now, if you’re coming to Maraya with your laptop, you’re probably wondering if the working environment is good enough for you to keep your routine. We’ll tell you—Maraya is truly such an inspiring place if you want to dive into this world of remote work and coworking, as it gives just the support you need for it as a newbie.

Just as an example—let’s mention food. Having ready-made breakfast every morning, and a fresh, healthy dinner four nights a week, is something many people said saves their time, helps them stay organized, and lifts the pressure off them.

Sundays through Wednesdays, everyone knows that around 8 or 9 PM, everyone will gather around the kitchen table and enjoy a nice home-cooked meal prepared by the staff.

Small things like these make this space a perfect workation spot. During the day, people focus on working, personal projects, or just some alone time, but after work, connections spark, nobody talks about work anymore, and stress gets lifted almost immediately. And that’s exactly what Maraya wanted to accomplish.

Maraya lets you stay connected to the modern world around you, but helps you reconnect with your inner child and find peace in slowing down and sharing your life more intentionally with others.

So—don’t wait too long to try Maraya out yourself—you know your soul needs it!

We appreciate your support!

Thank you for reading our content and following our journey! We are working towards becoming full-time content creators and being able to share stories with you even more frequently. If you’d like to support us to be one step closer to that goal, you can do it through Ko-Fi! 👇🏽

Secure yourself the best coliving experience

• italki – Why not learn some Spanish before your trip and make your coliving even better? italki is the perfect platform for that, where more than 3500 native speakers are waiting to help you with your Spanish.

Learn more about coliving

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Maraya Coliving – The house of community, good vibrations, and ocean views

• ByMarko
• May 3, 2022

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• ByMarko
• November 18, 2021

The post Coliving Spain 2022: #4 Maraya – An oasis for remote workers in Tenerife North appeared first on My Coliving Space: Spain.

Located in a beautiful Tenerife North, Maraya is made to inspire you to experience life to the fullest while being at peace with yourself.

Check out the interview and meet Maraya, a nest for digital nomads and remote workers built by five creative friends – Ben, David, Alex, Lucca, and Domi.

When it comes to community, these guys understand better than anyone the importance of connecting with the right people to create something amazing. Their experience definitely shapes Maraya’s energy, making its community one of its strongest points.

We did this interview as a part of our second set of interviews with coliving owners in Spain. In case you missed other interviews we did in this or the first set, you can check them all here. 

How it all started

“Three keys to more abundant living: caring about others, daring for others, sharing with others.”

–William Arthur Ward Dare

1. When and why did you decide to open a coliving space of your own?

– We decided to open a coliving space at the end of 2019 / beginning of 2020, before the covid pandemic made it such a popular form of finding a balance between work life and travel life.

We decided upon a coliving because we always liked this approach to life. Sharing spaces, utilities, stories, dinners, and new experiences. We also always imagined a coliving would attract a varied group of guests from all over the world.

2. Have you ever stayed in some other coliving space or any shared accommodation before you decided to open your own?

– All of the team have spent a lot of time travelling and living overseas in some form of coliving or shared accommodation. This gave us a lot of experiences on the things we liked or disliked about spaces, facilities, structure, and the communities.

3. Do you remember beginnings and what was the most difficult for you when you started your coliving?

– Our beginning was only recently (we opened in October 2021) and I think our most difficult challenge at the beginning was the overwhelming demand mixed with still figuring out our structure and community.

We also renovated the entire space from the ground up by ourselves, that was also quite a challenge 🙂

4. Is there something that you wished you knew when you started with coliving?

– It’s still almost too early to answer this question as I’m sure there are many things we still don’t know and will have wished we knew in the future! But for now, I think the knowledge we’ve gained that’s been the most valuable has been related to our community.

We started with a lot of ideas and experiences but have learned so much about our community and in particular what a Maraya community looks like, but I’m also happy we didn’t know this before because it’s been a fun journey to figure it out!

5. Have you had the opportunity to visit other coliving places since you opened yours?

– We have, in fact. We have a good relationship with the other colivings on the island, we all feel working together to grow the entire digital nomad and remote worker community on Tenerife is by far the best possible experience for guests.

6. What is the story behind you choosing Spain as the location for opening your coliving space?

– The reason we choose Spain, and in particular Tenerife is for the sunshine, the surf, the culture, the pace of life, the language, the food, the diversity – so many things to list!

We love it. And we’re super happy to have our coliving on Tenerife.

7. What are the advantages of having coliving at a remote rural place, and are there any disadvantages?

– We’re quite fortunate that although we are surrounded by nature our guests can also be at the beach, or go to a supermarket in only a 25-minute walk. Of course, being in a city guests would have immediate access to conveniences but being rural provides a new experience, or reminds them of a childhood experience.

Many digital jobs pull people into the cities and being rural allows our guests to reconnect to nature. Be it sitting around the bonfire, star gazing, harvesting fruits and veggies from our garden, jumping in the ocean, or just breathing the air here. It’s different and it helps them to reconnect.

Our community

“You don’t have true freedom until you allow a diversity of opinion and a diversity of voices.”

–Don Lemon

8. What is the profile of people who are most likely to stay at your place?

– Our guests fall into two main categories, digital nomads (travellers who work online) or remote workers (workers who have had their jobs moved online and decide to travel).

These two groups bring a different set of experiences, ideas, and energies. This diversity is by far the number one positive aspect of owning a coliving/coworking space.

9. What is the average age of people who are visiting your accommodation?

– The average age of our guests is 25-35, but we’ve had a variety of ages, and often the more diverse the number the more interesting the connections!

10. How long do people usually stay at your place?

– Guests usually stay 1 month. Shorter stays mix up the energies more, but longer stays allow for deeper, more meaningful connections to be created, either to other guests or to the space/island.

11. Do your visitors have the tendency to return back to your place?

– We’ve only been open since the beginning of October, so it’s a bit early to say, but we’ve already had quite some repeat guests, so it looks like it could be – which would be awesome!

12. Is there some trend where people from specific countries come to your place?

– We tend to see the trend that winter attracts guests from northern Europe and we believe summer will attract guests from southern Europe, similar to the trend throughout the Canary Islands. But we’ll have to wait and see if this is the case for Maraya!

13. What additional activities are included for people who stay at your coliving?

– We offer a number of activities for guests during their stay. From family dinners 4 nights a week, daily yoga, surf lessons, movie nights, game nights, skill-sharing, listening sessions, hikes, workout circuits, trips to the beach, trips to the volcano, this list goes on and on and on 🙂

We believe activities build a stronger, more connected community, plus we love being active!

About the Coliving Movement

”Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”

–Seth Godin

14. Do you think that coliving is only dedicated to a specific group of people such as freelancers, digital nomads, and startups, or do you think there is a possibility to gain popularity beyond that group of people?

– We don’t believe colivings are just limited to such a small group. We’ve had a number of creative guests (authors, artists, and even a musician) as well as a number of remote workers who are performing more typical office roles, simply remotely, along with the more typical groups.

We believe as technologies advance, so does the ability to work remotely however work looks for you.

15. Do you think that coliving cannot exist without coworking?

– We think without the coworking aspect, a coliving could simply be a short-term rental or a shared house/hostel. The coworking aspect definitely connects guests and is something special and unique.

16. One of the main selling points for coliving is the possibility to meet new people, share experiences and maybe even develop new partnerships. Is that really the situation?

– These are for sure important aspects of why people choose a coliving. A community brings energies and ideas together, and provides possibilities to either work or play together!

17. Do you have some examples where people who had the opportunity to meet at your place later managed to develop successful partnerships or relationships?

– I hope that this time next year we’ll be able to provide many examples of this because for sure this is one of the outcomes of a healthy community! For now, we’ve experienced people partnering up to share skills and experiences, meetups in different locations, and even some romance! Watch this space because I think it’s just the beginning at Maraya 🙂

Secure yourself the best coliving experience

• italki – Why not learn some Spanish before your trip and make your coliving even better? italki is the perfect platform for that! You will find more than 3500 native speakers waiting to help you with your Spanish.

Disclaimer: This article contains some affiliate links.  At no additional cost to you, we can earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Coliving movement

• • Coliving Movement

Coworking nomads – How the world is adapting to new philosophy of work

• ByGala
• February 10, 2022

• • Coliving Movement

Why are the Canary Islands one of the most popular places for coliving?

• ByMarko
• February 8, 2023

The post Maraya Coliving – The house of community, good vibrations, and ocean views appeared first on My Coliving Space: Spain.

Be a part of an inspiring urban community located in the gorgeous Catalonian countryside, just 50 minutes distance from Barcelona. Discover nature and wilderness while growing in the vibrant society of the Valley of Montseny.

Before you book your stay, read more about the idea behind it in our interview with Roger, one of Kalart’s coliving’s founders.

How it all started

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”

–Herman Melville

1. When and why did you decide to open a coliving space of your own?

– It was 2019, and it was more like a personal/lifestyle decision than a business-orientated one. Three partners and I wanted to live community-style in a rural area.

Therefore, we were thinking about how to make a feasible community lifestyle without it being community management, where it’s more horizontal and has much more challenges regarding any other issues.

We found out that this formula can work out pretty well.

2. Have you ever stayed in some other coliving space or any shared accommodation before you decided to open your own?

– Definitely, but not a proper coliving, although we have visited but not stayed. Two of my business partners and I were traveling around the world for two years.

We started a previous project, a retreat place that worked as a kind of rural hotel/hostel, and were hosting people who wanted to come for yoga, detox, meditation, etc.

We are very familiar with shared accommodation and the hospitality sector.

3. Do you remember beginnings and what was the most difficult for you when you started your coliving?

– Definitely. For us, the biggest challenge was to get some clients; the type of clients that we wanted and to have the capacity to filter them.

It wasn’t quite easy since we didn’t invest in marketing and promoting coliving in the first phase. Therefore, we didn’t have enough clients to filter them and decide who could stay in our place and who could not.

As I will explain later, this was a hybrid formula of coliving. Something between a coliving and a community. We wanted to know who is joining the project, even if it was only for a short period of time.

Not having enough capacity to filter and interview the people who would stay in our coliving was a little bit of a challenge.

4. Is there something that you wished you knew when you started with coliving?

– I wished we knew that we needed to do a marketing effort. We are in a rural setting that is not one of the top ten desired destinations. We are based in the rural area of Barcelona.

The market is not mature enough for this type of project. Especially, without marketing effort on PR, on media, on social networks, etc.

5. Have you had the opportunity to visit other coliving places since you opened yours?

– Not to stay, but we visited some of them, especially those on the Canary Islands.

6. What is the story behind you choosing Spain as the location for opening your coliving space?

– Well, we were born here. We are from this area, more or less.

We choose this area because it is a natural park. It is fifty minutes away from Barcelona and it already has a vibrant international community.

This place is close to a village that was receiving a lot of intellectuals in the ’80s; people from creative and cultural industries.

So it is a good location for our project.

7. What are the advantages of having coliving at a remote rural place, and are there any disadvantages?

– For us, it is all advantages.

We are interested in a type of lifestyle, that’s why we chose to open the coliving in this valley. This means we are surrounded by nature. We are in a natural park.

It is definitely very different from living in a city, for many features that change, regarding the quality of life, but we still have access to the city in fifty minutes (highway, train, or bus).

The good thing is also that we are not in a remote village. It is a special type of village, and there are only two or three like this in this whole area (Catalonian Region), and maybe ten places like this in whole Spain.

This place is a village, a sized village, but still, there are maybe 2000 inhabitants of which half of them are related to tourism and creative industries, culture industries, holistic industries. It is full of therapists, yoga teachers, artists, musicians, painters, creators, etc.

This is a very conceptual situation. It is like a hub or small cluster, and that is why we chose this particular place. Although it was difficult to set up and to find the place, it’s very competitive regarding accommodation.

Kalart community

“The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist.”

–Eric Gill

8. What is the profile of people who are most likely to stay at your place?

– We try to filter people from creative industries. We are not very interested in pure digital nomads that work eight hours in front of screens. Kalart is something between artist residency, coliving, and community.

Nowadays, we can filter people that can stay with us. They need to be aligned with our values, our vision, and a little bit of our lifestyle.

9. What is the average age of people who are visiting your accommodation?

– Between 27 and 40 years old.

10. How long do people usually stay at your place?

– We have two types of visits/accommodation.

Shorter (one to three months). Here at Kalart, we don’t host anyone less than a month, since we don’t think you can meet someone in that short period.

We are not focused on making money. We are focused on enriching ourselves, especially inner enrichment.

Growing together, meeting new people that do different stuff, learn from them, share different experiences, live this communal life. We found out that less than a month is impossible to open up, connect and make bondings.

The long term (on average from 7 to 9 months long). Some people have even stayed for a year and a half, which is the maximum.

They come here, they are in this urban exodus, mostly people who want to do a shift in their lifestyle. Try to live as entrepreneurs, a new type of career orientation. They do not want to be in this rat race anymore, 9 – 5, and they don’t want to be in a city.

We are useful to them as a platform, to try what it’s like to live in a rural area, what it is like to live in a kind of community lifestyle with plenty of activities that we do.

11. Do your visitors have the tendency to return back to your place?

– Not really. Once they come here and they like it, after some months, they usually decide to stay and move to this area.

We have what we called Kalartians, ex-visitors from Kalart, that moved to the same valley and became part of our community as well.

12. Is there some trend where people from specific countries come to your place?

– Not really. We have more national people (from Spain) than international.

13. What additional activities are included for people who stay at your coliving?

– We have many!

We do men’s circles, contact improvisations, static dance, singing circles, plenty of concerts, exhibitions, etc. Of course, we have bicycles you can take, plenty of hikes, plenty of rivers.

There are also other activities we do with the big community. As I said before, there is a big community of people of culture, of creative industries in the village, so there is always something happening.

About the Coliving Movement

”The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food.”

-Dean Ornish

14. Do you think that coliving is only dedicated to a specific group of people such as freelancers, digital nomads, and startups, or do you think there is a possibility to gain popularity beyond that group of people?

– Even though we are open to freelancers and digital nomads, we are not very much focused on these profiles.

It’s a mixture, we have hosted a couple of art teachers who don’t believe in public education systems and want to change and rethink their careers and they come for that.

15. Do you think that coliving cannot exist without coworking?

– It can exist, but you need to have coworking nearby. It can be as a part of coliving or as a separate coworking that is in a partnership with the coliving.

Actually, I believe that it is even better to have coworking outside of coliving, but close and easily accessible.

16. One of the main selling points for coliving is the possibility to meet new people, share experiences and maybe even develop new partnerships. Is that really the situation?

– Yes, definitely.

To me, it is the meaning of coliving, finding like-minded people. That is why we take so much care of the process of selection. We invest a lot of time in personal interviews, questionnaires, and other selection processes.

17. Do you have some examples where people who had the opportunity to meet at your place later managed to develop successful partnerships or relationships?

– Yes, there are small projects that have grown here.

Also, we have exhibitions that have happened. Events that we have hosted just because some of the members came across.

This is even more possible if you stay longer. When you have these people for 6-9 months, there are more chances to have a bigger impact on the place where you are at.

It is not for people who are looking for a cheap place to stay and work, have fun, drink, meet other people, flirt, etc. Our colivers have a different mindset. They look for different things.

Definitely, what they look for, they can find here. They can also impact the local community through involvement in projects with town councils and other organizations nearby.

One of the interesting points of coming across different people and exchanging points of view is ending up exchanging projects and even sometimes co-funding businesses.

Secure yourself the best coliving experience

• italki – Why not learn some Spanish before your trip and make your coliving even better? italki is the perfect platform for that! You will find more than 3500 native speakers are waiting to help you with your Spanish.

Disclaimer: This article contains some affiliate links.  At no additional cost for you, we can earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Coliving movement

• • Coliving Movement

Why Spain should be your first coliving experience?

• ByMarko
• November 18, 2021

• • Interviews with Coliving Operators

Maraya Coliving – The house of community, good vibrations, and ocean views

• ByMarko
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The post Kalart: a holistic coliving experience to awaken your inner creative self appeared first on My Coliving Space: Spain.

With its meditational location, this place allows digital nomads to disconnect from the voices of the city and connect with their inner creative selves.

Interested? Keep reading to find out how this amazing rural escape came to life.

Also, this is the last interview from our January set of interviews that with did with coliving owners all across Spain. In case you somehow missed out on our first two interviews with Anceu and Cactus, you can find them here.

How it all started

“At some point, a city must stop consuming land and start renewing communities.”

–Anonymous

1. When and why did you decide to open a coliving space of your own?

– It all started in 2018. We were meeting our friends and talking about abandoned buildings in town and we realized there was one unfinished. My sister and I decided we had to do something with it.

After thinking for a few days, the best idea we had was to start a Coliving. The place was perfect for it, and therefore, it would serve to fight against rural depopulation.

2. Have you ever stayed in some other coliving space or any shared accommodation before you decided to open your own?

– Yes, before starting the rebuilding, we visited some colivings to take inspiration.

3. Do you remember beginnings and what was the most difficult for you when you started your coliving?

– As for many people, the beginning of the pandemic was the hardest moment. We opened at the beginning of 2020, and two months later, the world stopped.

These were difficult months for us, but we managed to survive.

4. Have you had the opportunity to visit other coliving places since you opened yours?

– At the moment we haven’t had the opportunity to visit other colivings because we have had a big amount of work to do.

5. What is the story behind you choosing Spain as the location for opening your coliving space?

– We were born in Culla, where the coliving is, and there is no better place to start it than home.

6. What are the advantages of having coliving at a remote rural place, and are there any disadvantages?

– It’s a very quiet place without neighbors, and we think that’s the biggest advantage. It is also surrounded by nature where you can do lots of activities.

Our community

“Living in a rural setting exposes you to so many marvelous things – the natural world and the particular texture of small-town life, and the exhilarating experience of open space.”

-Susan Orlean

7. What is the profile of people who are most likely to stay at your place?

– Mostly people who enjoy working in the mountain and being surrounded by nature.

8. What is the average age of people who are visiting your accommodation?

– The average age would be between 27-30 years.

9. How long do people usually stay at your place?

– People usually spend around three weeks at our coliving.

10. Do your visitors have the tendency to return back to your place?

– Yes, they do. Some people have already visited us three times.

11. Is there some trend where people from specific countries come to your place?

– No, they come from all around the world.

12. What additional activities are included for people who stay at your coliving?

For the moment, we offer our visitors many routes to go hiking and cycling. Every week we do yoga classes.

– Colivers can also visit beautiful places closer to Ruralco. We also do “Paella day.”

About the Coliving Movement

”People you meet during travel become your family for a short while.”

–Lailah Gifty Akita, 

13. Do you think that coliving is only dedicated to a specific group of people such as freelancers, digital nomads, and startups, or do you think there is a possibility to gain popularity beyond that group of people?

– We believe it is open to more groups of people. Thanks to teleworking, many people take advantage of it, by visiting other places and working from them.

14. Do you think that coliving cannot exist without coworking?

– No, at the coliving you can do more other activities like yoga, pilates and more.

15. One of the main selling points for coliving is the possibility to meet new people, share experiences and maybe even develop new partnerships. Is that really the situation?

– Yes. At a coliving, you can meet different people from around the world that you maybe never would meet in other situations.

Secure yourself the best coliving experience

• italki – Why not learn some Spanish before your trip and make your coliving even better? italki is the perfect platform for that, where more than 3500 native speakers are waiting to help you with your Spanish.

Disclaimer: This article contains some affiliate links.  At no additional cost for you, we can earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Coliving places in Spain

• • Coliving Movement

Why Spain should be your first coliving experience?

• ByMarko
• November 18, 2021

• • Interviews with Coliving Operators

Cactus Coliving – Tenerife’s gem for digital nomads

• ByMarko
• May 12, 2022

The post Ruralco – The Rural side of the Spanish Coliving movement appeared first on My Coliving Space: Spain.

In the beautiful rural Galicia, you will stumble upon a peaceful oasis called Anceu coliving.

Inspired by life-work balance and giving back to nature, Anceu invites you to embrace what they call a “slowmad” lifestyle – and that is to travel, work and live slow and mindfully towards yourself and the nature around you.

Fascinated by their values, we spoke to Anceu coliving’s founder Agustin about how they started, what they offer, and the story behind the Anceu coliving.

How it all started

The most powerful thing we can do is get involved locally. Help our local community and become community activists in our own smaller circle.

–Gavin Creel

1. When and why did you decide to open a coliving space of your own?

I‘m from a region in Spain, Galicia, where people are leaving because of lack of opportunities, so I thought that creating a coliving space would help to give visibility to my region, and even make people want to move to it.

Also establishing a company in the region would create new opportunities for people living in the area.

Besides, after more than 6 years working remotely I wanted to have a home base in the region where I’m from, so I started to look for rural villages where I could establish the coliving space until I found Anceu.

2. Have you ever stayed in some other coliving space or any shared accommodation before you decided to open your own?

I hadn’t visited any coliving space when I decided that I wanted to open one. I knew about this kind of model, and in fact, with some people from my company, we had lived together while working remotely for a few years, so I kind of lived the coliving life before opening the coliving space or even thinking about opening one.

On the other hand, when I already had the place to open Anceu, I went and visited two coliving spaces (Cloud Citadel and Nine Coliving) where I learned a lot about how these kinds of spaces work.

3. Do you remember beginnings and what was the most difficult for you when you started your coliving?

Well, I opened in July 2020, just after the big lockdown of covid, so the biggest difficulty for me was COVID-related stuff.

That, and all legal stuff when you sign up a property in rural Galicia, where most of the properties are not 100% registered and there is so much paperwork involved in it.

4. Is there something that you wished you knew when you started with coliving?

I’ve learned a lot in this year and a half of Anceu coliving, so even though there is some stuff I would have liked to know, everything is a learning process, so we are where we are because of what we didn’t know.

5. Have you had the opportunity to visit other coliving places since you opened yours?

Yes, since Anceu coliving opened, I’ve had the opportunity to visit Quinta da Quinha in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. I’ve been invited in the following weeks to visit iSlow before their opening, and next month I’ll be traveling to Italy to visit Tertulia Farm.

6. What is the story behind you choosing Spain as the location for opening your coliving space?

Basically, it is where I’m from. I know the language and how everything (more or less) works.

7. What are the advantages of having coliving at a remote rural place, and are there any disadvantages?

I’d say the biggest advantage is that the community grows faster and stronger because people spend more time together.

For example, in Anceu coliving, all dinners during weekdays are communal, we randomize groups every week, and each group is in charge of cooking dinner and cleaning. This may look trivial but creates huge bonds between people.

Also, the fact that everyone knows that after a working day you’ll be seated at the table with all the colivers simplifies everything. This kind of activity would be harder in a non-rural place, where there are restaurants, bars, museums, etc., all around.

About the disadvantages, I wouldn’t know what to say, because even though Anceu is super rural, in 30 minutes by car, there is a mid-size city of 80,000 people where you can find everything, so we are pretty much close to both worlds.

Our community

I remind myself that I’m always more satisfied by human interaction than by a digital connection.

–Maulik Pancholy

8. What is the profile of people who are most likely to stay at your place?

People who work remotely; love nature; and are looking for a stable community.

9. What is the average age of people who are visiting your accommodation?

People in their 30s.

10. How long do people usually stay at your place?

The average stay during 2021 has been six weeks. For 2022, with the current bookings we have, that average stay is toping up to 11 weeks.

11. Do your visitors have the tendency to return back to your place?

So far, 80% of the bookings for 2022 are returnees. So I’d say yes.

12. Is there some trend where people from specific countries come to your place?

Not really. Until today most of the colivers are European, but we are living in weird times now travel-wise because of restrictions, so I couldn’t tell.

13. What additional activities are included for people who stay at your coliving?

Communal dinners and the skillshare/sharing sessions are the main things that Anceu coliving offers as activities. We also set weekly or biweekly visits to different projects in the area (music association, dog shelter, flea market nearby, etc.)

Apart from that, we like to say that activity-wise, we are facilitators of our colivers.

We show to the surfers where the good waves are, to the hikers the most famous hikes in the area, and to the ones who like to experiment with Galician gastronomy, the places to visit.

About the Coliving Movement

The spirit of co-working always you to find coworkers who are worth working with.

–Cynthia Chaim

14. Do you think that coliving is only dedicated to a specific group of people such as freelancers, digital nomads, and startups, or do you think there is a possibility to gain popularity beyond that group of people?

The short answer is yes.

The long one, I think there is that possibility, as long as they can work remotely. In my opinion, a digital nomad and a remote worker are not exactly the same. I’ve seen that there are more and more people who can work remotely but they don’t want to travel very often. So what they are looking for is a community where they can do their work while being with like-minded people.

15. Do you think that coliving cannot exist without coworking?

Nowadays, I think a coliving space needs a coworking because people need to have a way to pay the expenses of being in a coliving space. So, they have to work.

If the model is different, as cohousing, where people have already bought their piece of the land, and the expenses are lower, maybe that case allows not to have a coworking.

Disclaimer, I’m just speculating here. I’m no expert in this in any way.

16. One of the main selling points for coliving is the possibility to meet new people, share experiences and maybe even develop new partnerships. Is that really the situation?

That’s a big part of the situation, meeting like-minded people to share time, conversations, and who knows, even new partnerships.

Secure yourself the best coliving experience

• italki – Why not learn some Spanish before your trip and make your coliving even better? italki is the perfect platform for that, where more than 3500 native speakers are waiting to help you with your Spanish.

Disclaimer: This article contains some affiliate links.  At no additional cost for you, we can earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase.

Coliving in Spain

• • Coliving Movement

Why Spain should be your first coliving experience?

• ByMarko
• November 18, 2021

• • Coliving Movement

List of most unique activities that coliving places in Spain offer

• ByMarko
• April 13, 2022

The post The story behind Anceu Coliving – a rural escape with strong community appeared first on My Coliving Space: Spain.