Butterflies and birds of the Spanish Pyrenees holiday

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

Arriving by train:
You can travel to us by train. We have added a section on our website 'How to Get Here,' entitled, 'Travelling by train". Here you will find links to the websites Trainline, Seat61 and GoEurope, all of which allow you to plan your journey by train.

Renewable energy:
We have a geothermal heat pump which meets all our hot water and heating needs. The electricity for this pump comes from our photovoltaic panels which are located on two roofs. Two batteries store the excess electric that we have generate, which is enough for our electrical appliances.
All laundry is washed on site, using the solar power, harvested rainwater and then dried in the fresh mountain air.

Shared transport:
We encourage you to use our transfer service from Zaragoza. this is a shared 9 seater minibus, just like the minibus we will be using during your stay.

Zero km food:
We offer a balanced diet mixing vegetarian dishes with traditional Spanish cuisine. We cater for vegans, vegetarians and other special dietary needs.
We use seasonal and local produce in our dishes, much of which we grow ourselves, either from our polytunnel or from one of our three vegetable patches. Our production is organic and 'no dig!' When we serve salad, most is eaten within 1 hour of picking, with no transport needed! We also bottle over 100 jars of our own tomatoes each year as well as making 'pisto' with all our own vegetables, or blanch for the freezer.


ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE
We are passionate about the environment and the wildlife.
We support the local foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture (NGO for this endangered species). This helps fund a breeding program in our area which has had great success. We will also talk about the vulture conservation programme giving you an opportunity to learn about this amazing raptor as well as an insight into conservation work. The profits of any aprons or beeswax wraps we sell to guests go directly to them. We have also planted over 100 lavender plants in our garden attracting 65 different species of butterflies. Once the flowers have dried on the plants, this lavender is harvested and converted into lavender bags to freshen each wardrobe in the guesthouse,. They are available for sale, with all proceeds donated to the NGO.

We have installed two huge tanks to harvest rainwater. These are used for the irrigation of our organic vegetable patches, by drip feed, as well as for the all the laundry and for watering the garden.

Waste management: No food is wasted. All raw green waste goes to our compost (you can see our video on youtube - how to make better compost). Non compostable food waste is given to the local farmer´s animals and/or our own animals.
Paper and plastics are separated re-used or recycled. We are constantly trying to reduce single use plastic, buying products in bulk wherever possible or using FSC approved paper bags . For the daily picnics we provide filled baguettes in locally made re-useable beeswax wraps.

We recycle all we can, including building materials and furniture. For example all the vanity units in the luxury bathrooms are unique secondhand pieces of furniture, adapted with a granite top and basin. All the furniture in the house is antique or secondhand and has been or is in the process of being restored by Simon, your host.
Many of the external doors are secondhand and have been adapted. The beams and stone from the four year renovation of the property have been reused throughout the building process. We continue to reuse this material now as we landscape the garden.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY
We are a small family business based at a 17th century farmhouse, which we restored and upgraded using 100% local tradesmen and recycled or locally sourced building materials.
We support the local economy wherever possible. During your holiday we give you the opportunity to buy from small independent shops and small artisans producers.
In the small village where we live, we involve our neighbours with our holidays, offering the possibility to visit their houses which have changed little through the centuries. This gives a unique insight into the culture and traditions of the high Pyrenees. In return we make donations to the village fund, We also offer a guided visit to the chapel of San Urbez, explaining stories about our saint, his miracles and the architectural features. For this, we ask our guests for a donation in the chapel collection box.
We are involved in trying to preserve and restore the local pathways, acting as volunteers as the need arises. We will be running a path clearing holiday in the future which we hope will also ultimately benefit the community as a whole.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY
100% of all our mountain guides and wildlife experts are from the local area. We have an all inclusive approach when it comes to guides, wildlife experts, teachers and cleaners (independent of race, gender etc). All contracted staff are paid on their terms, well above the national minimum wage.