REC.ON Spain

What a fantastic place. Such fantastic people.

I stayed for a two-week art residency with the host and felt immediately at home. It was a unique, remote, unforgettable experience that I would highly recommend. The natural surroundings of the sierra are spectacular. The hosts are incredibly welcoming and generous and have so much positive, creative, and constructive energy! They’ve created a rustic, tranquilo eco-oasis. They know how to make excellent food and get people together, connecting with both the local community and international travelers/artists. A nearby local town would have to be one of my favourites in the whole region; it's friendly, non-touristy and rich in culture. Gracias to the hosts!

Incredible place! The host was magical, the atmosphere welcoming, the farm beautiful, and the gallery cozy. My creative juices were flowing like crazy; I wrote a huge chunk of a book and got very well rested too!

I spent 6 weeks with the host as part of the artist residency, and I can't recommend it highly enough! The hosts are so kind and attentive - I immediately felt at home when a host picked me up from the bus station :) I'm a writer from the US, and I also work remotely, so this turned out to be the perfect location for me to write my novel while having fun and also working. The Starlink Wi-Fi was always fast, so I could make video calls for work without any problems. I took lots of morning hikes right from my doorstep and wrote outside with all the poppies and flowers blossoming around me.

On the weekends, I loved visiting the market in Velez Rubio, going to the local Semana Santa celebrations with the hosts, and exploring nearby Velez Blanco and La Cueva de los Letreros (which gave me good inspiration for a poem!). Granada is close by, too - I took the bus for a day trip and returned later the same evening.

In addition to artists from the residency, there are also many van lifers and digital nomads passing through, so there's a nice variety of travelers. I loved having breakfast every morning with the group and listening to everyone's stories about why they were traveling, what brought them to this place, and what they were going through in their lives. So many people here end up creating something or sharing parts of their lives with others. This host is such a special place where the gorgeous surroundings serve as a backdrop for inspiration, both artistic and personal.

Let me start with some basics:
* Beautiful surroundings, nice for hiking. Valez Rubio is a lovely town, small but lively enough. And a bonus: if you come in March, you'll see fields of blossoming almond trees all around the area.
* The coliving is a beautiful place; good camp spots for vans, very nice and very clean (cleanest I have seen on my trip) facilities, with a hot shower and lovely ambiance.
* Wi-Fi is really good; you could easily work there as many guests do. You can also set up your work spot in the gallery if you want to.
* There are seats and hammocks everywhere, there is a treehouse, almost every night a campfire, and the breakfast (that is included in the price) is really tasteful with good coffee.

So let's move on to the thing that makes this place from good to great, what brings that extra level, that unforgettable experience, and the reason many people (including me) will come back: The people.

The team has a vision, a dream that they live and share. Also, they have a talent: they know how to connect people, how to include people without force and without giving you the feeling you have to participate.

It is a place where artists can freely express themselves, and at the same time, if you do not consider yourself an artist, you do not have to do anything.. and you might even surprise yourself by experimenting.

Also, you can be or work in the garden, nap in the rocking chair, jump in the cold tub, or help get the hot tub going, which everyone can enjoy at the end of the day.

And you will feel included no matter how involved and engaged you are. Just be mindful of the following: you might stay longer than you planned.

The only place you can truly escape the pressures of the city

The mix of travelling by bike and a beautiful but remote Ecovillage in the middle of the mountains might not seem like an easy fit, but they went out of their way to make it work for us.

They would bring us to the village, provide amazing fresh food (and coffee!!!) and within a week they even gave us 2 mountain bikes to use to get to and from the town!

The place that they have built with the reformed Andalucian farmhouses, the fireplace, the communal outside kitchen and terrace transforms people.

You can interact with the people the same way as you interact with them; if you feel like it you can spend the whole day together and work on amazing projects, and if you don’t, you are totally free to retreat and have a ‘you-day.’

As an artist, I really found myself here; the interesting characters coming and going, the slow rhythm of the Andalucian countryside, and the natural food from the garden released me in a meditative way from the pressures that I had built up in my mind.

Over the years, we have lived in many places, but this was the first one that felt hard to say goodbye to. We are already thinking of our next time to go here, and if you are looking to let go of your stress, so should you.

This place can be a home to basically anyone;

- Van livers
- Digital nomads
- Writers
- Artists
- Travellers by bike

Muchos gracias, and hasta la proxima!

Snow-capped mountains and blossoming almond trees – here you can have it all at once! A lot has been written about this place and I am happy to confirm: it's all true :) I've seen a few projects and community spots over the years and this might just be my favorite so far. The team has a beautiful way of making everyone feel welcome and free to just be the way they are. They seem to know everything about the area, are happy to take you into their world and share & show you everything. And if you're an introvert 'hermit crab' like me; you can have your space and time as much as you want and still be part of the project. There are so many little spots and spaces to settle and enjoy the amazing landscape, listen to the birds, or chat with a fellow co-worker/creator. I loved the attention to detail that's in everything and the way you can admire the amount of work and love that's gone into this place in combination with creativity and artworks all over the place. Very inspiring and relaxing to be there – thank you, Dziękuję bardzo! hasta la próxima vez

Anonymized and corrected review text:

A loving, intentional environment has been created that makes it possible to step out of the rat race and reconnect with what actually matters.
I’m an artist from the United States preparing applications for a master’s degree, and this residency was the perfect place to focus, reflect, and truly deepen my work. The studio is stunning, with beautiful natural light, an easel, and a projector; everything you need to fully sink into a creative practice. The hosts are incredibly generous with their knowledge, especially when it comes to local materials and the history of the land, which makes working here feel grounded and alive.
What makes this place especially rich is the mix of people it attracts: artists, travelers, and digital nomads from all over. The conversations, shared meals, recommendations, and bits of hard-won wisdom feel like the opening pages of a novel: a gathering of distinct characters, each with their own accents, music, histories, vocabulary, and flavors to share.
Life here moves at a human pace: breakfast and coffee together every morning, visiting the chickens and dogs who live on the land, exploring the stunning mountain trails, grilling chorizo and fish, clinking glasses of local red wine, and laughing around fires as the sun goes down. It’s a place of care, beauty, and presence, and I’m profoundly grateful to have spent time here.

Since 2020 we have been coming here, sometimes several times per year. It always feels like coming back to our Spanish home. The team continues to be incredible, genuinely warm and passionate about what they do, but also how their guests experience the coliving. From the evening fires; to the wonderful hot tub; to coffee and chats in the morning. Keep up the amazing work you are doing here. It is a credit to all the hard work you have put in.

Such a beautiful place to unwind.

Rustic rural life with fantastic amenities. The wood-fired hot tub and the nights sat drinking wine and eating BBQ by the fire will remain memories forever.