Medieval Spanish ghost town becomes self-sufficient ecovillage

[lxathos]

e il mio sogno! grazie per questo video veramente. e un stimolo in piu

[ecology1st]

Pretty cool off the grid lifestyle, but staying vegetarian would have been better.

[imanolUriaBlanco]

the name of the house isn't "Arena", it's "Ederrena" (that means "the Most Beautiful" in Basque language). el nombre the la casa no es "Arena" sino "Ederrena", "la Más Hermosa" en Euskera

[kirstendirksen]

@imanolUriaBlanco Thank you. I realized I'd made that mistake right after I posted. Well, I didn't know how to spell it exactly (Basque spellings are difficult for me) so I just put in my phonetic estimation in the subtitles and meant to ask for help, but never did. So thank you very much for finally pointing that out. And what a great translation. Gracias por la ayuda!

[mickeymandlebrot]

the video only seems to load to 4:24 each time... :( i wanna see the rest! help?

[juancarlosarbelaezl]

Las utopias son posibles. Se puede empezar de nuevo. Felicitaciones a todos los valientes. Gracias por ser fuente de fuerza y energía.

[juancarlosarbelaezl]

as utopias son posibles. Los valientes si existen. El espíritu humano es poderoso. Los limites están en la mente. Magnifico video!!!! Magnifica experiencia!!! Magníficos seres humanos!!!

[frequencyspecific]

brilliant



[Abarca1977]

Me encanta la idea :-)

[GangStalkingUK]

WOW! Thats Amazing. That Organic bread is heaven not like the fake Organic bread you get here in the UK

[eangeles92]

Wow just marvelous

[diegoevil]

Nice place to live...

I wanna live in a place like that!!!

[LeftOfToday]

I hope you'll do more on different ecovillages. I've become really interested in them, and I love the way your videos are educational while giving an 'inside tour' element to them.. If that makes sense ;)

[c33r0k33]

There is much for me to ponder in this video, whether I stay in a rural community or relocate to a dying urban center... One--community, community, community. Two, flexibility. Three, willingness to try. Four learning from mistakes and successes... I have a lot to learn and can learn from this video. Saludos.

[LiliannahBudlidottir]

Please, could you give me more information about this village? Is it possible to move to there? If yes, how in what conditions. I'm portuguese, and it's not that far from me. I hope theres a way to reach it and get to know it better (: Thank you*

[kirstendirksen]

@LiliannahBudlidottir I'm glad you raised the question. Mauge actually was very clear to say that there is no room in their town for more inhabitants. Though they occasionally have visiting work parties/overnights, they have a waiting list for those who wish to move to Lakabe. There are other medieval towns turned ecovillages in Spain (we heard of a dozen or two) and I know there are others in Europe. You could try the "Global Ecovillage Network" under a google search and they list by country.

[apocryphae]

@LiliannahBudlidottir

tens coisas do género em Portugal. Tens de procurar há várias comunidades que estão a fazer o mesmo, ou que têm o mesmo objectivo.

[LiliannahBudlidottir]

@apocryphae Sim, realmente existem várias, mas que infelizmente estão infestadas com burocracias. Existem algumas eco villages no sul, mas não é o pretendido. Obrigada na mesma (:

[elstado1]

Cool.

[namer1990]

I loved the idea, and i would love to go there but nobody asked the little question about how they get water, both for consumption and washing...

[mcksy]

waaoww amazing people! inspiring!

[Dustrick]

Amazing...

[helsinki]

i want to go to there

[LithiumLogica]

I'd bet it would be a really cool experience to restore a city or town that has been abandoned.

[pahwraith]

@LithiumLogica Well, North Dakota is full of ghost towns.

[brianzpartner]

thank you this was beautiful.

[justangvano]

humbling and inspiring. Thank you.

[123chrispotter]

Great video! I always look forward to seeing your videos in my sub box

[FoodWarmingEquipment]

Now this is what I’m talking about. But there are more contemporary facilities; abandon, foreclosed and left to rot that can accommodate people all over the world, in both cities and rural towns. “The System” would rather they rot, than have you reside there (god forbid) for free or with any breaks. There are brand new homes, $600,000 and more, where I live that are bulldozed down rather than put to use. What a waste! I'm sure they are doing it for my protection though! [sic] So it's OK.

[nicolasboullosa]

@FoodWarmingEquipment In places such as Spain, most of these ghost towns belong to the Administration, since they became forest soil and in most cases nobody claimed their ownership. Some of them could be restored and be self-sustained following ecology principles. At the same time, not having any right over the place you live in doesn't allow you to have any guarantee over it. Personally, I think the private property right can be positive even in abandoned rural environments. Incentives too.

[kirstendirksen]

It's important to distinguish between public & private property. Lakabe was public. I agree it's a waste to bulldoze new homes, but it's important to protect private property rights. You may choose to relinquish them to live in a communal environment, but it's important to be aware of the consequences of infringing on property rights. I know I want the right to own my own home- it doesn't have to be large and it can be handbuilt-, but I want the privacy/security/personalizati­on of ownership.

[KdubbG]

@kirstendirksen can you explain why it is important to protect private property rights? Maybe I'm just a callous American who lives in a country in which the private property rights of Banks are forcing people from their homes so that those homes can be emptied and razed. But I don't think anyone here is advocating kicking residents out of their homes, just reclaiming the fallow from the real estate speculation of the previous decade.

[kirstendirksen]

@KdubbG I would agree it's a waste to bulldoze perfectly good homes as one commenter put it, but I also stop short at those who would like to literally "occupy" the homes of others. I think it's important to critique our system and fix many things that are broken (banking regulation, our tax system, etc), but I also think we should protect basic individual freedoms (the right to own private property, etc). Perhaps that's an obvious distinction, but an important one to keep clear.

[SurprizedDaily]

Just want to clarify here...NOBODY owns anything! It's all given to us Freely by the creator! People need to get the idea of Ownership out of their minds! The Earth was given to each of us to use & inhabit, have dominion over Freely! Every Nation on the Globe is bankrupt! Kudos to all those proactively taking back what's all ours to begin with! Checkout robcourtofrecord -dot- wordpress -dot-com

[SerotoninRush]

@SurprizedDaily yeh the bankers own everything now haah

[vadertjetijd]

@SurprizedDaily "A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children."

~ John James Audubon

[jrshipley]

@kirstendirksen We have to ask, though, what the purpose of property rights are, and where do they come from. Thomas Paine argued in Agrarian Justice that property rights are secondary to the common right of all to the earth's resources. We grant property as an incentive to agriculture in order to promote the common good, but hoarders who subvert the common good for private gain may be subject to dispossession in accordance with the common right of all to restore the public good.

[jrshipley]

@kirstendirksen I.e, property rights are important, but there are limits to the extent they can be used for exploitation, and if the propertied class are exploiting the masses then squaters rights come into play to restore the original common right of all.

[nagaempress]

And what comes to my mind is everyone saying there is no more room on this planet. How are there Ghost towns if there is no more room? Just a random thought...

[BoringPeopleEnt]

@nagaempress no more room as in running out of resources to support everyone.

[nagaempress]

@BoringPeopleEnt Or are we not using them correctly since we shove everyone into cities where they can't support themselves?

[kirstendirksen]

@nagaempress I would be careful about assuming that these towns can sustain too many people. Mauge was careful to point out to me that Lakabe (population 32) is full with a wait list because the surrounding land just can't sustain that many people. Urban environments often use less resources than rural ones because of the way urbanites share resources (walls, floors, heat, public transport, etc).

[nagaempress]

@kirstendirksen True... But see where I live is a very scarely populated state. We have towns that are similar to this that are dying. Not due to lack of resources but a lack of people who refuse to use the land themselves. They hve sold to large corporations and now no one lives there and they could.. How I see it they have a small urban area there. They are sharing resources but on a smaller scale. But idealizing this idea is not a healthy one. So yea I can see the drawbacks as well :)

[hotm96]

@BoringPeopleEnt 'Running out of resources' depends on what is defined as resources.

Oil is resource, but it can be replaced.

Wood is a resource, but it can be re-generated, as long as there are smart plannings.

So on and so on; however, the point here is, it is up to us to be smart in terms of usage, reproduction, and cherishment.

[FreedomRingsToday]

Wow this looks like the town where my father's family was from in Galicia...near Monte Forte. We visited a few times...it's been about 13 years since I've been there.

[WorldStove]

just like torrisuperiore in ventimiglia! LOVE IT

[enticed2zeitgeist]

@WorldStove Just like what in where? lol

[WorldStove]

@enticed2zeitgeist mm good point ;) In Italy there is another formerly abandoned medieval village that was turned into a self-sustaining ecovillage.