We're all here, in part, for the stunning environment, and together we work hard to take care of our surroundings.
We love the sound of the birds and the trickle of the fountain. We use ancestral methods and materials to restore our homes, and the ancient Moorish irrigation systems, or acequias, to water our gardens. We experiment on our lands to reuse and recycle materials; we barter with our neighbours and help eachother out; we drink lots of beer then crush and sell the cans. All in all, here in Atalbeitar we're doing our best to beautify our home and leave a small carbon footprint.
Here are some of the environmental and restoration projects we've been working on. Please get in touch with us if you, too, are passionate about these issues and wish to donate or get involved.
OUR GARDENS AND PUBLIC SPACES
We're lucky to have some beautiful gardens in Atalbeitar, not to mention renowned architects and artists who work hard to restore and beautify their village!
Donald Gray and Gabriel Montero spearheaded the La Roca Garden endeavour, for one, and have started work on other landscaping projects. They use ancestral materials and methods, and donate their time and knowledge to keep the village as authentic as possible. If you'd like to help them move ahead with their ideas, contributions are always welcome!
HEALING THE WATERS
Water is life, and that's why we want to cleanse what's flowing around us. As active agents of the landscape, we're planning events for 2019 - artistic encounters to explore our relationship with our environment. The objective of these events: to find solutions to recover the Atalbeitar era, or threshing circle, for environmental and cultural activities; the development and conservation of the acequias, water channels that are of primordial historical heritage; research workshops on wastewater management and remediation methods; documentation of good domestic use of water. These events will be financed, in part, by fundraising activities and the sale of fanzines.
FANZINE
Bianca, a creative soul and neighbour, held a drawing competition during six monthly markets. The subject to draw: Atalbeitar. Dozens of people of all ages and talents participated, which led to the printing of several fanzines. How cool is that?! Most important: the money raised with this fanzine will go towards our project to finance the cleaning and improvement of the water in the Barranco del Castañar.