Our story: how we moved to a hollowed-out Spain

Many customers, when they arrive at our campsite, realize that our accent is not the one they expect to hear in this land. Then we tell them that we come from the Basque Country and we have been living in Lumbrales, Salamanca for a short time. Then the curiosity always arises as to why we decided to come to live in the countryside, what they now call “empty Spain”.

Our life on the asphalt

The idea was always flying over our heads: stop, stop running back and forth, be aware. But no matter what, you are that little mouse that goes round and round in a wheel. You move, you run, you seem to do something, but you don’t move forward, you go so fast that you don’t see what’s around you. And if you yourself don’t stop sooner or later there is something that does it for you. A disease, an accident, a pandemic?

There are times when you live to work and spend the day thinking about the weekend break. Weeks go by while you long for the vacations. If Sunday afternoon is an uphill climb for you, you can understand this situation.

We were spending our lives in longing. Missing something that was within our reach. We just had to realize it and do something to change the situation.

And a pandemic arrives

Those months of confinement in 2020 finally made us listen to those ideas that were flying around us. We wanted that change, not only us, but also our two children.

Those days when the world stopped, we all saw what is important: health, family time, talking to friends, being outdoors and in contact with nature, leisure time…

And it germinated in us the idea that we should not forget, in the wheel of routine, which are the things that fulfill us and are truly essential.

Start the search

And in this effort of not forgetting what is important, we began to specify what we were looking for and where to make this change in our lives. It is a visualization work, not in the future, but now: how you imagine yourself living, what you would like to do, what your surroundings are like, who accompanies you… This exercise was done by all the members of our family. We pooled our ideals and came to the conclusion that living and working in a small campsite combined the desires of all of us.

Constant contact with nature and outdoor life, possibility of having animals, direct and careful treatment with the client, more leisurely work according to our skills, a small town in a rural environment and a less humid climate.

As we had been camping customers for many years, we tried to keep our eyes open for the opportunity, as well as searching the internet for all possible options. Two years without finding anything led us, when we had given up hope, to an advertisement for the sale of a campsite in Lumbrales, in the northwest of the province of Salamanca.

Maybe a little further away than we would like but we had to see it. Fifteen days later we were the new owners.

The opportunity

A small campsite, the usual ones, near a village with all the basic services, in the middle of La Dehesa, next to a river that in autumn showed us an idyllic setting, a little known place but with great potential… It was within our reach. Our opportunity had arrived and we took the leap without looking back. Together, hand in hand, we jumped into the water.

The leap to Empty Spain

It’s that moment when you make the decision to make a major change in your life. Once you make it, it’s scary, because you don’t know when you’ll be back on solid ground. Also, during the fall, in that time when you are in the air, you still see what you are leaving behind, but the force of gravity takes you to the new. For us, it was necessary to make this jump as a team and for the people around us to understand our desire to jump.

The process

Several months later we moved to live in Lumbrales and after ten months of hard work on the project and many bureaucratic hurdles we managed to inaugurate our campsite. So explained it seems easy, but there were complicated moments, in which we had to remember what had led us to this place and this moment. And we had to find the strength to take the next step.

In this process there have been those who, with curiosity, wondered what brought us to live in the countryside; others, welcoming people with an enormous desire to help and make their town grow, were always willing to help.

Our project was selected to participate in the IV edition of Holapueblo, the platform (promoted by Alma Natura, Redeia and Ikea) whose purpose is to connect entrepreneurs with towns looking for new inhabitants. This fact boosted the foundations of our venture, making them more realistic but also more ambitious. On the one hand, thanks to the mentoring they provide, and on the other hand, by making you part of a community of people with whom you connect because they are all looking for entrepreneurship in rural areas.

Our new life in the country

We have only traveled 500 kilometers. No mean feat. But our life has changed in a thousand ways. We live with less, but with more awareness, slower, without constantly looking at the clock, in silence and with laughter. We talk to our fellow countrymen, we make friends, we get to know traditions, we discover landscapes and different views. In short: we get used to it, that is, we get involved in their customs, leaving ours behind.

What do those who know our history ask us?

Would you go back? You never know what life may bring, but we don’t consider it an option at this point in life.

Do you look back? Of course, that way we can see how far we have come; besides, every journey is a learning experience.

How have your children adapted? Perfectly, since ours is a family project that has been carried out with the opinion of all the members at all times. Either all of them or none of them, otherwise it could not work out well.

I hate my job, I would love to do what you have done but I don’t dare, how do I do it? See if there is water in the pool, if so, jump in!

What lessons have we learned in the process

• Surround yourself with people who support you, even if they don’t share your ideals.
• Look for repopulation projects that you can join. Many villages are looking for people. Start a business or look for a job in the rural world.
• Look for grants, subsidies, free courses, attend workshops. Get trained.
• What works in the city does not necessarily work in a town.
• Respect traditions, ways of living, learn and if something can be improved, help to change it.
• Join us, look for people with the same interests as you and you will grow.
• Don’t idealize life in the village.
• Stop. Breathe. Remind yourself of everything you have done and why you have done it. Live: this is what you wanted.

What’s next?

All this learning we want to help through the repopulation group of Lumbrales, composed of people with the common goal of attracting new settlers to rural areas. Making known a welcoming land rich in tangible and intangible heritage. Offering our vision and experience to all those who are interested in moving to live from the asphalt to the Spain that empties. If you are interested, please contact us.