We're under construction! (But you can still It is not an escape; it's a bold quest to redefine living, breaking free from societal expectations and crafting a balanced existence that fuses wilderness with contemporary drive.
Location & The Village
Nestled just 20km from Galicia's stunning Atlantic coast in northwest Spain, the Valley spans 20 hectares of lush land enveloped by dense forests and winding rivers. This verdant haven offers endless opportunities for exploration, sustainable living, and creative projects—ideal for nature enthusiasts, makers, and those seeking a harmonious blend of wilderness and community.
The quiet village at the end of the road feels peaceful and free, with no close neighbors. It has four old stone houses totalling 1200m2, offering plenty of space for living and workshops and plans for installations of additional tiny houses around.
How we're spending time
👷 building and renovating the properties, greenhouse and infrastructure, while trying to stick to traditional methods and materials
🐝 attending bees and improving the apiary
🐓 taking care of our chickens
🌴 planting, propagating, watering, weeding, and growing our food forest and jungle around
🏖 ️exploring the coast, surfing, snorkeling and swimming
🥾 hiking around our pristine rivers
😎 hanging out in a hammock
💫 watching stars by a bonfire
👭 visiting other communities and projects around
🕺 helping out or organising work-parties
🥘 cooking, eating, playing music and singing
Values
Sustainability We emphasize natural, locally sourced materials in construction to reduce environmental impact, acknowledging practical needs while focusing on durable, low-waste alternatives
Self-Sufficiency Generating our own electricity, water, and potentially biogas promotes resilience and independence from external utilities, lowering emissions and inspiring autonomous living
Land Stewardship Regenerative forest practices, including selective harvesting and soil restoration, treat the land as a living partner to enhance ecosystems and ensure long-term vitality for wildlife and future generations.
Biodynamic Agriculture By viewing the farm as a self-sustaining organism and aligning with cosmic rhythms, we boost soil fertility, produce own compost and nutrient-dense food that fosters ecological and spiritual harmony.
Syntropic Agroforestry Multi-layered food forests mimic natural succession to regenerate land, sequester carbon, and yield abundant harvests without synthetic inputs, turning agriculture into an ecosystem-healing practice.
Participate
a) Coliving / Coworking
Is an opportunity for visitors to come and recharge in natural environment while spending time with like-minded individuals. The options to stay are between 1-3 months, during which the visitors become part of the community, working online as well as engaging in communal tasks, cooking and eating together, learning about agriculture, forestry, beekeeping or spending time actively kayaking, surfing, sailing etc. We're planning on hosting the first coliving/coworking visitors from spring 2026 when the renovation finishes.
b) Volunteering
For those who'd like to contribute to the project on a shorter-term basis, there's an option to join as volunteers. We'll provide accommodation and food, in exchange for your contributions to the project. Let us know when you'd like to come, what skills are you brining and what would you be excited to help with. Ideally the minimum stay is 1 month, in come cases can be less.
c) Meditation retreats
We are planning on hosting 10day meditation retreats for experienced mindfulness practitioners, with one already completed. The attendees are completely isolated, camping in a forest for the duration of the retreat, equipped with walkie-talkies to be able to easily reach support if needed. It's like Vipassana, but just you and the nature.
x) Join the community
Any of the above options should be a good start to organically set roots at the Howling Valley by spending the time together, getting to know each other and through this process getting the feel for becoming a permanent citizen of our village. If this project looks like your new dream home then we're excited to get to know you!
Intentional Community
Our long-term vision is to share the village with 8, 12?, 20?? individuals who share the passion for realizing our vision. We have abundance of space and ideas, but we can only achieve it together. You can buy-in or work-into co-owning the property, making it your home.
Your profile: a pack animal, excited to make things happen, friendly, empathetical, respectful, self-motivated, like physical work, embracing change, rules & processes
Our goals are to live a healthy life, grow a food forest, farm animals, develop workshops (for example woodworking) and share our work with the outside world through hosting and teaching, while having fun (and challenges).
What others say about their stay
"
We felt welcome at maté’s place from the very start. He made sure there was always a lot of ingredients to
make nice food and we shared many nice evenings, bbq-s, guitar medleys, walks, talks, .. Maté is a very
interesting and creative guy full of out-of-the box ideas and self-thought construction solutions. He is
transforming this old Galician house into a one of a kind modern home. He will always have his own opinion
about things, but it was very nice and interesting to discuss the options and try and find the best outcome
together. His dog vivi and her two giant parents were the most lovely mastiffs who also warmly welcomed
linda to their pack. We will come back in some years to see what crazy stuff maté will have added to the
property and to enjoy the warm stove in the kitchen! Thank’s for having us! "
~Karolien & Samuel
"
Maté was very welcoming and made sure that I always felt comfortable at The Valley. He is happy to teach and
share his knowledge and he can adapt the work tasks to suit everyone's skills and interests, plus he is
literally a volcano of ideas for both work projects and free time, always super fun and original! 💃
He is easy going, open to communication and flexible in terms of working hours and days: for example he
accepted our request to work on the rainy weekends so that we could enjoy the sunny Mondays at the beach!
😎🌊
His place is amazing, peaceful and super safe, I also had the chance to explore the sorroundings and meet
some of his friends, who also have interesting projects and ideas. ✨
I really felt at home at The Valley and I will definitely come back! 🏕️ Thank you for everything Maté 🫶🏻
"
~Charlotte
"
I spent a month at Matè's place and had a wonderful time in which I was able to learn many new skills. Matè
is an inspiring and intelligent personality and ensures that everyone feels comfortable and has a great
experience. He gives good work instructions but also freedom and trust in the implementation and is open and
patient to listen to other opinions. It never gets boring because there are many different tasks to do and
always ideas for new projects. Besides work, we often went hiking in the surrounding rainforests and
swimming in the sea or in the countless rivers.
I can warmly recommend everyone to visit this place and get inspired by this project and the people.
I would love to come back to see the progress :) 🚐🌿
"
~Lisanne
"
My experience was fantastic all round. His description of this workaway is very accurate and his
communication was perfect throughout.
The work:
I learnt a lot about construction & maintenance, as well as gardening. Tasks were mostly renovation focused
included building and insulating roofs. I also learnt a lot about gardening and what it takes to renovate,
mentally, physically and economically.
The host (Maté):
A really interesting, fun and caring person. I formed a great friendship with Maté, and had the most
interesting conversations about life and the changing world. I feel like I have grown so much from our time
together, and I will make an effort to come back to the valley.
The place:
I was in awe of this absolutely stunning rainforest, which is so green and luscious, teeming with wildlife.
If you love nature you will fall in love with this place. Please note that this place is a rainforest so
bring warm, cold, rainy and dry clothes!
Overall I extremely recommend this experience, especially if you are interested or already into renovation
and rural, self sufficient living. "
~Adam
"
Needless to say I had a great experience at Mate's place ! And you will never lack of things to do, since
Maté has so many ideas and projects for his beautiful place, which will surely be ever developing and
growing. He's a very dedicated and patient person, and allows you to be creative in whatever you're doing,
as well as working at your own… read more
"
~Camille
"
Maté is an extremely intelligent, capable, and generous guy. He has always provided everything needed to his
workawayers. His project is ambitious and impressive, it was a pleasure to be part of it. I recommend Matè
and his beautiful place in Galicia to everyone who is willing to learn new skills and go out of his comfort
zone. "
~Marco
