Mac An Ghaill

Mission: The location of Solares in Cantabria a few miles from Santander is a placeholder. We are not yet certain where we will build, but it will most likely be in either Catabria or the Basque region, the easternmost regions on the Costa Verde on the northern coast (Atlantic Ocean coast) of Spain.

We are planning a sustainable, cooperative community with a view to wellness and caring about our neighbors. The geographic area we are considering is a very temperate area of the world – moreso than most temperate regions – with summer high averages in the low 80s (F) and winter low averages in the low 40s (F). It is green and beautiful, with substantial mountains rising not far south of the coast, plentiful rainfall, and fertile earth. We believe that it will be fairly immune from the worst effects of global climate change, with air and moisture fed by ocean currents not closely associated with thermohaline cycles.

From www.ic.org/directory/mac-an-ghaill/:

We intend to have a community focused on sustainability, but in style. Specifically we will be welcoming those of open-minded, egalitarian and free-thinking persuasions who care about others and wish to live in peace and harmony. This is likely to be a well-planned community with architecture and housing commensurate with a resort-like atmosphere, clean and as upscale as we can afford. “Anything goes” planning will be avoided. We may be using alternative building materials such as compressed and interlocking earthen blocks and/or “air-crete” and/or “hemp-crete” or others, but in traditional style such that we do not stand out like a “sore thumb” to Spanish society. We will not be a commune, but we do intend sharing in pursuits. We will welcome some portion of our residents who are without much in the way of resources, out of compassion, as far as we can afford … and we will be able to afford far more than we can in the US because of significantly lower living costs and because of ability to “buy in” to the very excellent and affordable Spanish national healthcare program after a year in residence. We plan to have sufficient land and flexible building concepts which can accommodate expansion as needed and as warranted.

We look forward to providing very affordable and comfortable housing (as compared to the US) to all, some of which will be as apartments with central gathering areas, and some of which may be single family or multi-family dwellings. Common areas for gardening and community efforts to grow our own food is a central goal. The pursuit of alternative energy sources is also an intended goal. A business or several businesses which will help support the community and employ residents and Spanish nationals are planned and at least the main one(s) will be focused specifically on saving copious amounts of energy in commercial and industrial applications. Plans and patents are being drawn up currently, and the practicality of the business models is beyond much doubt. As soon as patent application filing is done investors will be sought to underwrite the startup expenses, but the profitability outlook is great considering that the ROI for customers who buy the products and services will be stellar – they will pay for themselves within months or certainly less than several years. The market will be the whole of the relatively temperate and humid portion of continental Western Europe and possibly England. There is currently little competition, and that which does exist will likely be outshone by our offerings.

A service of the Data Commons Co-op. The project has been supported by Equal Exchange, the Cooperative Charitable Trust, the USDA, and many others - thank you! Tech volunteers over the years include: Benjamin Bradley with support from GAIA Host. Ben Mauer with support from Quilted. Paul Fitzpatrick. Ronin Tech Collective, Brattleboro Tech Collective, Sligo Computer Services. Jason Lemieux. Default map tiles courtesy of MapQuest. Default map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.