This is a story about some younger and older people. This is a story about an ongoing dialogue. This is a story about trying to gain understanding. This is a story about action itself. This is a story about tolerance. And this is yet another story about a social space in a mountain village in eastern Spain and the people who created it – and still are doing so.
In retrospect, some might wonder why we reported on the small construction progress at a social space in eastern Spain, especially at a time when the so-called Western world was once again being turned upside down. What’s the point of building something when so much is being destroyed? What gives us the strength to create something when so much energy is being used to destroy the future of amazing citizens?
Edu shovels the old little trailer empty. We had used it to transport clay and topsoil from the Osa Mayor to the Color Garden. The depleted soil is stored at the edge of the site to recover over the next few decades. Then, thanks in part to rainwater from the upper terraces, it will slowly be reintegrated into the local topsoil.
The trailer, by the way, is a gift from Richard and Solweig from Harzgerode (Athina). They gave it to us because they support projects like ours. We’re often asked how something like this is even possible; this is just a little hint.
When we’re not hauling soil, we also use the trailer near Osa Mayor as a depot for construction debris that, mixed with gypsum and paint, can no longer be recycled by us. We then regularly transport it to the local waste collection point called Ecopark here in Spain in these days. This, too, is an important part of building this community space: waste separation, including construction debris.
This story, too, is a story about people, their actions, and their motives. And here, too, we cannot ignore what is currently happening in the world. Unlike others, we don’t want to rebuild a temple. We want to create a social space that people can enter to connect with one another.
Tana and Annika are helping. Two young women from Germany set out to explore cohabitation and living community options. They chose our community. These two come from a different era. They belong to Generation Z – also described as the last generation. We don’t want to adopt this terminology ourselves. Nevertheless, one can describe a lot when one knows which generation uses which terms. While the Baby Boomers were lulled to bed by the TV’s Sandman, Generation Z fell asleep next to their smartphones. What has always been a given in a generation is taken for granted, accepted, and only questioned later, sometimes, somehow.
Tana is digging. The volunteer has almost reached the old ground level. She’s called away for a meal and somehow can’t stop. She wants to finish what she started. That’s the spirit in the new generation that we need. When you dedicate your free time to a social project and get into the flow, even a break feels like an interruption.
Children look to their parents. They listen to what their parents say, and they watch what their parents do. Whatever the parents think, only what they do matters.
It’s the same in retrospect with every new generation. We hear—sometimes with astonishment—what they say, but they will be judged by future generations by what they do. Tana is digging into the history of the Osa Mayor, a house built from the stones of the ruined castle of Cervera del Maestre more than 500 years ago. She is uncovering the history, and in doing so, she is laying the foundation for the reconstruction of this social space.
If you control the past, you control the present; if you control the present, you help shape the future. Don’t leave that to others who want to write in your mind.
Juan Petry
Francesca collects chunks of cement, small natural stones, and fragments of old clay bricks from the rubble of the ruin. Just as the Romans had done many years before, these materials are valued as building materials for the new structure. The local materials possess immense value, and it is essential to recognize this value. When one considers the stones of a facade, one can appreciate the amount of energy stored in quarrying, processing, and transporting them. Half the energy consumed by a car over its lifetime is used in its production. The same is true for building materials. The Romans knew this and thus tried to reuse existing materials whenever possible. The new residents of Cervera del Maestre did the same when they quarried stones from the castle walls. In this way, military resources were given a civilian purpose. This pattern likely repeats itself time and again.
Osa Mayor’s neighbor told us about the old woman who was the last person to live in the house. It was during the reconstruction period after the Spanish Civil War. This woman apparently often stood on the balcony and watched the children playing in the street. Or she would open the only (!) window—without glass—on the first floor to air out the room.
This old frame with its single-leaf wooden shutter is also to be preserved and will be restored using the simplest of methods. A carpenter once put it this way: if you want to help the wood withstand the test of time, you oil it. So we sanded the pieces, replaced the slats that had been eaten away by woodworm, reinforced the whole thing, and then painted it with oil.
The window will be given pride of place in the facade, between the arch and the balcony.
Francesca is digging. As she does so, she thinks of the plants in the adjacent flowerbed. They barely manage to survive in the poor, clay-rich soil and would be so happy to receive a dose of good topsoil. In the Osa Mayor, many wooden beams had collapsed and been crushed by rubble. In the permanently damp environment, they decomposed over decades, forming fine humus. Francesca is excavating these layers and collecting this good soil for the flowerbed.
Markus comes from Germany. A friend brought him along. He started sorting natural stones and clay bricks and placing them near the future construction sites. Construction logistics is a crucial aspect of building and is often underestimated. Most of the time spent on construction is spent preparing for and following up on the project. Clever storage is very helpful in this regard. At Osa Mayor, we’ve already accomplished a great deal in the last six months: about 10 tons of clay and soil, about 3 tons of green waste, and about 2 tons of plastic waste and glass. In addition, we’ve salvaged about 6 tons of old building materials from the rubble and have already incorporated some of them into the construction.
Every kilogram of building material that doesn’t need to be purchased or transported becomes a valuable resource.
The old shutter gets its makeover with dark oil.
When using this resource, thoughts of current politics are never far away. The younger generation has a very clear opinion on this. They are very irritated that people who present themselves as so socially minded, opening their living space to strangers and readily sharing what they have, have such a completely different opinion on these issues. If many don’t want to leave their echo chamber and defend their comfort zone at all costs, then it is truly commendable that these two visitors expose themselves to these other opinions and can tolerate them. Therein lies the great opportunity, for us and for them. We don’t want to convince them, co-opt them, or manipulate them; we simply want to meet them authentically and honestly, without pretense. And that, too, is what makes a social space social.
The neighbor of Osa Mayor is Casa Armonia. This is also a new project of our community, and we will report on it later. In this house, old mineral plaster was removed from the walls. The house breathed again, and the walls lost a significant amount of moisture. The mineral plaster can be processed into a kind of Roman concrete. This can then be reused, along with compact, solid construction rubble, to fill the walls. And that’s exactly what we did.
In the foreground, a small wall made of old clay tiles salvaged from the house’s rubble can be seen. The center of the wall contains a layer of solid old concrete, smaller natural stones, and shards of clay.
Almost 90% of the building materials in this picture were salvaged from the rubble of the Osa Mayor; only about 10% were added as new bought material later. Lime is the predominant material. It bonds well with the other materials and also seals the wall better than a simple cement mortar would.
The secret of the old natural stone walls can be unlocked by asking why they have lasted so long. The walls endure because the stones, when laid together, can move slightly and very slowly. This allows them to absorb the resulting stresses caused by earthquakes and weathering. Lime mortar closely approximates this principle.
Markus has done a great job; the clay bricks for the next work session are ready.
The Gothic entrance area will gain another inner arch. It will be constructed from old clay bricks from the Osa Mayor. In Gothic architecture, the number of arches often reflects a combination of spiritual and pragmatic considerations. This is also the case here. With the fourth inner arch, the entrance will reach the width of the facade wall. This will give the entrance maximum stability and provide height for future crossbeams connecting to the adjacent walls and the rear facade. This construction method also creates the foundation for an organic tower that will spiral upwards from the patio.
One can behave antisocially and add a portion of the loot to a so-called good cause, in the spirit of indulgences. But that is reminiscent of the dark times in human history. A social space like Osa Mayor must also be characterized by being social from the outset and having a social impact on its surroundings from the very beginning. The good soil that Francesca had taken from Osa Mayor has found its place in the flowerbed at the fork in the path. The loquat will be pleased, as will all the other plants that previously had to eke out a meager existence.
Every Saturday between 10 am and 1 pm in spring 2026, people gather at Osa Mayor. They want to participate in the project workshop and contribute their knowledge, strength, and perseverance. Annika, Tana, Oscar, Markus, Francesca, and the many others are becoming part of this story. Osa Mayor invites new generations to get involved, to take action.
We were very impressed by this young generation. Above all, we were touched by their openness to confronting uncomfortable, differing opinions. And we were delighted by their ability to engage with a topic for hours without getting sidetracked by convenient distractions.
Whatever this new generation considers right and important, if they focus on the enjoyment and pleasure of doing, they will find their way.
The questioning of gender and its roles is also a major theme for this generation. Here, too, the future will value actions more than words. And those who don’t want to die out will ultimately choose to support a new generation.
In times like these, every action and every word becomes political. And that is perhaps also a motivation for this article. If it invites conversation and encourages dissent, that’s good; if it contributes to young people, like Annika and Tana, taking action and creating social space, that’s even better.
