Ginés Donaire I Jaén, (EFE).- The municipality of Frailes, in the Sierra Sur of Jaén, hosts the first experience of rural ‘cohousing’ or collaborative housing managed by a cooperative and it does so in the old town spa.
‘Cohousing’ or collaborative housing is a residential modality in which spaces such as the kitchen or rest areas are shared among the users of the residential, although each one has their own private space or home.
The one in Frailes is a housing complex built on the site of the old town spa (which was destroyed in the Civil War) and adapting the structure of a luxury hotel that was projected although it never saw the light of day.
Patricia Moya, director of the Frailes residential complex, assures that the philosophy of this project “is none other than transferring a phenomenon that has an urban origin to rural areas and, at the same time, making it the engine of economic and social change.”
In the case of Frailes, Hábitat Collaborativo has been the cooperative that has received the award for 40 years for the management of this residential project.
This is a widespread experience in the Nordic countries, but it was not introduced in Spain until 2001, and almost always with “urbanites” as the main recipients.
And also an accommodation experience where, according to Patricia Moya, “the rules of coexistence are set by the residents themselves and the governance model is democratic.”
Less than 700 euros per month
In his opinion, “what is sought is to achieve a full retirement, with active aging and where they are the protagonists.”
The cohousing ‘El Balneario de Frailes’ has 90 accommodation places divided between double and single apartments and apart-hotels. At the moment, it has 16 users.
Residents pay just under 700 euros per month and have all basic services covered, from maintenance, cleaning and all recreational activities.
“There is an excellent coexistence, you have total freedom and there is no time to get bored with so many activities offered, from the organic garden to yoga or dance classes,” says Miguel Garrido, who was the first user of this complex.
Frailes cohousing is financed by a cooperative of which 89 members form part, including the residents themselves and those who will be in the near future.
“It is an innovative residential model in which we have put a lot of enthusiasm and which has a strong social component in Frailes and in the entire region”, underlines Custodio López, president of the cooperative.
In his opinion, the philosophy that inspires this project is related to the so-called time banks, an initiative of mutual collaboration to exchange skills and knowledge to create an economic and social alternative.
Another of the partners, Santiago Campos, is also excited about the feasibility of the project. In May he is going to inaugurate an exhibition of photographs on the history of Friars in the last half century in the residence itself.
Projects in Córdoba, Granada and Madrid
In addition, the cooperative finalizes an agreement with a company for the management of a spa that will evoke the spa that gave Frailes so much fame in the first third of the 20th century. It is also thought of enabling a plant for tourist rental as aparthotels.
For her part, Encarnación Castro, mayoress of Frailes, is convinced that “it is an effective formula in the fight against the depopulation of rural areas and it will also serve to attract more visitors.”
‘Cohousing’ is also an ideal formula to deal with that silent enemy such as unwanted loneliness.
And it is that Spain has already exceeded the threshold of two million people over the age of 65 who live alone, and population projections suggest that this group will not fall below 28% of the total number of inhabitants in 2040.
The cooperative Hábitat Collaborativo is preparing projects similar to that of Frailes in Granada, Bujalance (Córdoba) and Robregordo (Madrid). EFE
