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Sitting in Matavenero, Galicia, northern Spain, 1000m high above sea level, and it is about 10 o’clock in the morning, on a sunny day in may. I could forget about all these facts and figures enjoying that great view over the mountains, the small individual-style, colourful houses, the horses, the huge dome which was built for community events and the childrens toys lying around in the green grass.

I can hear birds singing, all kinds of insects whiring and buzzing, chicken gaggeling, and some reggae music from somewhere near the center of he village. I can smell flowers, and I feel a bit like a tourist.

I am a tourist this time, indeed, coming here only for a day, taking photos, writing an article and leaving again. I am looking forward to Germany so much, but I know all these places are places to come back to … I would so love to stay if I wouldn’gt really want to leave now. Would like to get to know the place, the people …

A least I got to talk a bit about the place with a guy who just came by… he speaks German, around 30 years old, and his first baby will be born in about a month, in Matavenero.

He himself grew up here, in Matavenero. He moved here with his mother when he was 8 years old. He was living wih her in a tipi, then they decided to built a house. And he stayed.

Matavenero, a community which exists since 40 years already, is one of the few communities, where a new generation, who grew up in the place, is staying (and not leaving, like inmamynother communities).

Many other communities have serious problems of attracting young people.

We heard that he is not the only child of Matavenero who is still living here, and new young people arrive, too. Asking him why, he says: „I have visited other places, but what I like here is that it is really layed back and quiet, and that you can really do your thing“

About his mother, who does not live here any more, he says: „We complement one another perfectly“. He is a lover of the ideas of age spanning living and living with nature i seems.

He is very critical towards life in the cities, keeps telling us stories about his childhood, and how he would react onto cities back then. When he came to a city, first, the supermarket were an adventurous and colurful fair for him and the other kids to play around – but after half an hour it already got to much.

They would go to buy some French Fries, or whatever was the cheapest thing they could find. But then not only eat this, but finish all the buffee and sometimes rests of what people would leave on their plates. He tells it like he’d still be such young and at least dreaming about contuining to play around like that.

The community consists about 80 people (including children) from different national backrounds. To stay here really is a choice to make: unlike in southern Spain, winter here, high up in the mountains, can get really cold.

So, one simple rule, „the only rule“, he tells us, seems to prevent any serious problems in this place: stay here for at least a year, before you build anything. Nobody who is not serious about really wanting to live here stays for he winter, without an own house, sleeping in the guest rooms or as a guest at peoples houses.

I wonder how often he has told all these things to visitors like us before:

„You can be happy that I tell you all of these things at all“, he sais, and I see he is indeed a bit tired of repeating.

In general the place is very open to guests, who have that self-governing guest house to use.

People here make some money with them, selling things in a little „tienda“, running a bar, selling artesania as well. But it doesn’t look as if you’d need a lot of money here: people have gardens and good water, there is hell of solar panels everywhere.

The place was occupied at first, back in the 60s. Unlike in other places, the state supported the idea of reanimating this old village. They are now a registered, accepted village and even have an official mayor. A windmill company, who built windmills on „their land“ even has to pay them money for it.

Compared to Beneficio, which has the same roots (Rainbow family movement) and exists about as long, it is really an impressive place, with impressive infrastructure. Even a couple of elderly Spanish tourists who are wandering around the mountains, and by chance ending up here in the same day we are here, are really surprised: „we have never seen any village beautiful like this“, they say.

If he ever went to a school, we ask our new friend with the big smile.

Well, he did, for a few years. It was really bad, he sais.

If his kids ever want to go to such a school, he would support them to do it, but if not, he’d not force him.

„How would your perfect community look like?“, we ask him.

He sais he doesn’t know, how to make a community work, but for sure you cannot like it work within a generation, he sais. First you got to raise a psychically healthy and stable, „normal“ (he smiles) generation, who can then rise their kids in another way.

Even though he has that crazy eyes and laughter, talks a pretty weird mixture of languages, and is definetely not what people in the cities would call „educated“, I can totally see that this guy really seems to be more healthy and happy than many other, „better educated“ people I’ve seen there.

Maybe he knows more about the really important things in life than any school kids.

„You know what?“ he sais, and his eyes get that crazy shining glimmer „I would like to be an old Germanic, or a shaman in a tribe in the jungle. Those people really work together! And they have all these witches and gods and tales – they really have fantasy!! That’s what I would like to be…“

Last 5 posts by anja

• Que pasa? - December 15th, 2009
• project update - July 22nd, 2009
• erste Infoveranstaltung in München / first info event in Munich - June 21st, 2009
• back in the land of rain - June 6th, 2009
• game over ... the last day - May 31st, 2009