Portugal and Spain village quest
In September 2021 the first re:build in-person event was hosted in Portugal and I was lucky enough to attend.
The collaborative team behind re:build called it a conference, but for all of us attending it was more like a festival. After two years of lockdown, it was joyous to be together with 100 people — camping, compost toilets and open air showers included. The event was hosted by the Traditional Dream Factory, an inspiring project and team.
Like most, I was arriving with an open heart and a willingness to explore and exchange with other people dedicating their time to new ways of living together, changing the ecosystem and restoring the land.
After getting to know people initially via Zoom, it was a treat to be face to face with folks like Jay Wong (Inspira Villages) and Alan Laubsch (generation.blue). You can see Alan below, speaking about the potential of crypto to protect oceans and invest in regenerating the land.
The time together was filled with practical workshops, site visits to ecovillages nearby, and unconference tracks diving into the myriad of considerations of village building and sharing our dreams and visions.
One of the memorable moments was when the Portuguese caterer (Salsa em Festa) spoke to the group at the end of the event, explaining how they had served 1000 meals and 500 breakfasts over the four days. She then held up a few plastic bags and declared it as the total waste created. It was impressive!
Before the event I was fortunate to spend time with Victor Vorski, Earth Sky Lab, and his wife, Evgenia Emets, the visionary behind the Eternal Forest project. They showed me around Ericeira and every day was filled with sights and experiences that convinced me Kasaba needs to be here.
Their house, on the outskirts of Ericeira, a surf town 45 minutes north of Lisbon, became the central meeting spot before and after re-build.
The region is not only filled with beautiful cliffside walks, cool cafes and incredible beaches, but it has a burgeoning community of people living the conscious, nomadic life who are creating an interwoven tapestry of support for each other and the places they are calling home.
This brings me to the question of why Portugal is so popular as a place to spend all (or a large part) of the year.
I believe the reasons fall into three clusters:
Economic
There are tax benefits to people who choose to live in Portugal but earn in other countries. It’s called the Non-habitual Tax Regime (NHR) and represents 10 years of tax savings. This is particularly interesting for people earning money from crypto.
Portugal is also more affordable than many other places, particularly for things like food, transportation, and entertainment.
Housing is also comparatively low, however, current real estate pricing looks like it is a bubble (relative to average incomes, real estate is too high). This is potentially due to the golden visa investments and the surge of foreign people wanting to live there. Rental prices are still well below other cities like London or San Francisco but are rising, especially over summer.
Environment
The weather is amazing. The beaches are clean and there is consistent surf in water temperatures that feel like a warm bath compared to the San Francisco ocean.
There can be wildfires in the south of the country and some water scarcity, but thankfully the impacts of global warming seem less threatening here.
Social
There is now a critical mass of people in Portugal who are establishing ecovillages and sharing knowledge and resources as they go. This adds to an ecosystem where people help each other grow and adapt to a more healthier and rewarding way to live. Here’s a map showing the different regeneration initiatives in Portugal.
In addition, the government has been actively attracting digital nomads with visa programs in places like Madeira (an archipelago that is an autonomous region of Portugal, to the north-west of Africa).
With all this in mind, we started searching for suitable locations for Kasaba and found an ideal property in Sintra, 30 minutes outside of Lisbon.
After doing some initial due diligence on the property, we started working with Marlene from Lisboa Investments to raise the capital to buy the property so we can have a place to begin activating the community and making the first steps into Portugal.
Since then we’ve also been viewing dozens of alternative locations, both in Portugal and Spain.
A recent change to tax laws in Spain has made it more attractive for foreign investors to own assets in the country. In addition, there is a considerable increase in the value for money of properties in Spain over the ones we have found in Portugal.
We’re hosting some events to bring interested people together to explore the fractional ownership and stewardship of suitable properties and invite you to attend. Keep an eye on our event page to signup.
Keren is passionate about permaculture, community-building and being in harmony with the natural world. She is the co-founder of Kasaba and would love to connect with people dreaming of community living.
