Catalan bed and breakfast, near Girona, Spain
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
When facing a total rebuild of Can Torras we were determined to make it ready for the challenges of the future and used the mantra reduce, reuse, recycle! For this part of Spain the most important issues are reducing energy consumption throughout the year (for both heating and cooling costs) and preserving and reusing water. Solar panels now heat our water and help with heating in winter using low energy radiators and a computer system minimises gasoil use in winter. The roof and northern walls are very well insulated and all windows double glazed and draught proofed. In summer we use shades on doors and windows and a whirligig roof vent removes hot air in some rooms. Solatubes light dark corners without producing heat. For our water we collect from all our rooves to a large storage tank topped up by our own well when needed. A large reedbed is in construction to treat more dirty water for irrigation of the organic garden and wherever possible we minimise waste.
During our renovation we reused whatever we could and now have a chicken "palace" and a shadey car port and vinery with those lovely old (treated) house beams! There are several green rooves about the place reusing plastic and wood from the rebuild giving insulation from the heat and of course looking good in the process. In the garden plastic and stones from the building have gone on to beds to preserve moisture in the soil during the Summer and reduce our weeding. Our organic garden saves water by using mulches and improving the soil at the same time. Minimal and appropriate watering is so important where every drop of water must be collected.
Perhaps the recycling project we are most proud of is the kitchen. Wood and doors were collected from skips and waste dumps to form our very own bespoke kitchen. With not a wall or floor straight or square, this was a labour of love!
Community
St Mateu de Montnegre is a tiny village in the Gavarres hills and as a result everyone supports everyone else in a crisis, such as when the entire village was without electricity in a snow storm last year. We have been made to feel very welcome here with neighbours pleased that we are permanent residents in Spain rather than Summer visitors. At the annual festa we all gather to prepare the food and dance the night away in August so that is a great gathering to share busy lives. Sharing garden produce and food is a traditional way of getting together here, particularly to celebrate special saints days and food festivals of which there are very many in Spain.
Can Torras is not big enough to require outside employees but during the construction period our new building was entirely in the hands of local architects, surveyors, and some truly excellent builders. We continue to buy green and locally whenever we can for improvements to the home such as our new treatment machine for the drinking water so that we save all those plastic bottles!
The Catalan people outside of a village environment are less interested in the countryside and environmental issues than we would hope. There is an execellent waste disposal and recycling system run by the local council spurred on by land fill taxes which we support, but in many homes the waste is worrying and little is recycled. In recent years several second hand shops for furniture and clothes have opened. We have bought many items from there but this is perhaps one of the most surprising things for our neighbours. We hope to make converts where we can and particularly in our organic garden which has played host to two local gardening groups interested in what we do here.
Visitors to Can Torras can share in our experience of all that Catalonia has to offer and it goes without saying that local restaurants and attractions are on our very long list of things to do. Researching new places is a great pleasure!
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