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Quinta da Quinhas has opened in Vila Praia de Âncora to provide shelter for those passing through on their way to Santiago de Compostela, but also for anyone looking for a place to work and belong. Peggada has been to this coworking and accommodation facility in Alto Minho and tells you everything you can expect from it.
Patrícia Labandeiro is a veteran when it comes to the Caminho de Santiago. So much so that when asked how many times she has done it, she replies: “After ten times we stop counting”.
Her fascination with the days spent putting one foot in front of the other to that mythical place in Galicia comes from the close connection she has with nature and the physical proximity to a land that serves as a passageway for pilgrims.
Although being from Viana do Castelo, her companion, André, is from Vila Praia de Âncora, an obligatory stop for anyone following this route along the coast.
Albeit each was comfortable in their profession – Patrícia is a psychologist and André had an outdoor products store – they both wanted to have their own business, closer to nature, and which would give them more freedom to enjoy their family.
The farm, which today is so much more than a place to keep animals, belonged to André’s family, who were happy to see his desire to turn that hectare into something more valuable.
What was originally intended to be just a pilgrims’ hostel is now Quinta da Quinhas – a rural coworking space, accommodation and a space that brings together those who pass through and those who pass through and no longer want to leave.
Rural cowork
The idea of a coworking space in a village may seem absurd to those who are used to seeing them in the center of big cities, but there is even an International Network of Rural Coworking Spaces, which connects all these spaces that bring this possibility of working remotely, but with company and the facilities that an office can bring, to smaller communities.
“We have people who live nearby and use the space to work every day, but we also receive many foreigners who stay for a season,” explains Patrícia, as she shows us all the possibilities for spaces.
There are running desks, high tables, individual booths and offices – these are called “oincs” because before they were a workspace, they were pigsties.
Preserving the original spaces was one of Patrícia and André’s main concerns during the restoration of the space. “The tractors and firewood were kept here in the coworking area, and the cows’ maternity ward was in the work table area, not least because the production and sale of milk was one of André’s family’s main sources of income,” says Patrícia. There is also a changing room outside, designed for those who like to take a break from work for a run or a dip in the sea. This space was once where the animals stopped to extract milk.
“It is precisely this mixture of modernity and rurality that makes this space unique,” says Patrícia.
Leonor Leite confirms it. She is one of the people who occupies one of the coworking offices, where she develops her work as an artist. “Moving here from a big city was scary, but the truth is that I’ve never felt alone,” she says. And much thanks to Quinta da Quinhas. “It’s already that place we all point to when we see someone new coming to the community.” And they are. The space is now mainly occupied by people who have come from other parts of the country and the world and decided to live nearby. “I don’t miss the city, but I knew I would miss the cosmopolitan side of the city. But, oddly enough, I ended up finding it here,” she says.
For those who want to try it out, the first day of coworking is always free. The daily rate is €8 and there are also ten-day packages for €70. There is also the possibility of paying a monthly fee, choosing between a space in the open space or in one of the offices.
Accommodation. From pilgrim hostels to family homes
The Quinta’s accommodation is prepared for all types of guests, from pilgrims who just want to stay one night to digital nomads looking for a place to live and work for a few months. What’s more, there’s always room for those who come to Quinta da Quinhas just to visit and enjoy the place, whether as a couple, a family or with friends.
For this purpose, the accommodation is divided into dormitories, single rooms and a tiny house, the latter made with all the amenities and designed to be independent from the common space. Even so, there’s always something to be gained from a visit to the common area, not only for the interaction with other guests, but also to enjoy breakfast: every morning, the kitchen counter is filled with fresh bread, cereals, coffee, yogurt, and everything you need to start the day.
Given their location – 10/15 minutes from the center of Vila Praia de Âncora – Patrícia and André decided to make life easier for those staying at the farm when it comes to meals. Thus, in a partnership with Casa Almeida, a restaurant in Caminha, it is possible to order dinner, which will be hand-delivered by the person who cooked it.
Joana Almeida has returned to her roots after years of working abroad. From those trips she brought the desire to do things differently, with a restaurant where dishes are made with modernity, often using produce from her home garden. “Nothing goes to waste with me. I make jams, chutneys, fermented foods, invent dishes, but everything is used,” she guarantees. For those who visit the restaurant, there are meals of the day (always with vegetarian options), breakfast, brunch, wines and cocktails, for all times of the day. And for those who arrive at Quinta da Quinhas by 4 p.m., they have the opportunity to order a home-cooked meal, hand-delivered by Joana, who always brings much more than food.
A space that respects people and the planet
Keen to devote more time to coworking and the work that goes on there to support entrepreneurship, Patrícia and André decided earlier this year to hand over the management of the accommodation to Hotel Meira, a historic hotel in Vila Praia de Âncora, which now has a challenge on its hands.
Flávia Arieira, the hotel’s communications manager, explains that although pilgrims are the main public, they have been receiving more people looking for coliving and, during the summer, families looking for a place to spend a few days.
The Quinta is always open to everyone and it’s not uncommon for coworkers to come at the weekend, not only for the guarantee of socializing, but also because the space is fully prepared to welcome children – there’s a trampoline, a mud kitchen, games and animals that love to be petted. The three donkeys – Bugalho, Bolota and Camélia – and the guinea pig Pipa are everyone’s responsibility, because that’s how you live in a community. Even before we left, we went to give Pipa a few more slices of cucumber, her favorite snack.
The space also organizes Portuguese classes for foreigners, art classes, yoga classes and special days, such as the Trunk Sales, which promote the circular economy.
Sustainability has always been one of the farm’s pillars, and it hasn’t been lost in this evolution.
There are composters in the garden, they only use natural fertilizers, there is a vegetable garden where guests can pick up produce, and they are eliminating invasive species and reforesting with native species, such as oak trees. They partner with local projects, such as the aforementioned Casa Almeida, but also with the bulk store Cesta d’Avó, providing products for consumption at the coworking space.
Events and news are always shared on social media, but there’s nothing like a visit to the farm. But beware, there’s a serious risk that you won’t want to leave.
Marta Cerqueira is from Minho and a vegetarian. Luckily, she lives in Lisbon, where there is more tofu than sarrabulho. She has been a journalist for over 15 years, the last of which writing about food and sustainability. Now, out of the newsroom, she continues to write whenever she can, be it in magazines, journals, post its, or on her Instagram page, which she uses to share a life divided between being a mom-person-foodie-traveler. Still, she created Peggada so she could write about what doesn't fit in a magazine, journal, post it or Instagram: a better world.
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