We have never done anything here with the primary goal of making money — not even as a secondary one. When we ran the Café Bar of Passanant, we passed on all the advantages we had — subsidies, not paying rent, heating or utilities — directly into the prices, giving it back to the village and the municipality. And not to lose money, quite the opposite. We didn’t get rich, but the bar generated good income — enough to live with dignity. Attractive prices and good service draw people in, and yes: we created the best village bar in the history of Passanant i Belltall since time immemorial. And it worked in winter, in autumn, in spring — even during the COVID years, imagine that — because people came from far away and nearby.
It must also be said that we do not believe subsidies are good in all contexts. For basic services they must exist — healthcare, public transport, essential supplies, and some cultural and social support — but beyond that, it is better to have a favorable environment. This is where the political framework should work much harder: creating conditions that allow failure and recovery, instead of fragmenting and dividing, and rather than relying on direct and indirect subsidies as a single tool, which often causes and worsens problems.
We even believe that basic services should be public; everything else should be an opportunity for everyone, based on effort, without artificial doping or unfair competition.1
Returning to the bar, we worked more — and we worked well, happily. To this day, we still don’t understand why we bothered the local council so much… probably for no reason other than that, as outsiders, we needed time. They even told us: “you’re not from here until you’ve been buried in the cemetery.”
In the end, we had to leave earlier than planned, and not for lack of will to continue. And every cloud has a silver lining… Leaving gave us the freedom to do many other things.
We apply the same philosophy to everything we do — and even more so at Cal Talaia. All the events we organize, with the exception of the herring breakfasts, are usually run on a pay-what-you-want basis, often losing a bit of money — sometimes more. The herring breakfasts, since we do them every month, are offered at a participatory price so as not to lose money, but not to make any either. It is more of a service we provide to the village, and at the same time it helps fill the funds of the Glorieta association. For those who wish, there are three glasses of cava, two coffees or carajillos, all for a fixed price; in the end, what matters most is that people feel good.
This way of doing things makes people generous and relaxed. We have never felt taken advantage of. Treat people well, and they respond — and that brings a kind of satisfaction and happiness that cannot be bought. It has even been said around the municipality that the bar we ran was not profitable; no, quite the opposite: it was profitable and, importantly, attractive. But there are always some — in villages and in the world, unfortunately — and we are not free from fault either — who turn a mouse into an elephant… In the end, everyone has lost, and no one has gained anything from “killing the saint”… We are worse off now, speaking of the Café Bar of Passanant — much worse.
We came here to live well — and better — with less money, money that we still have to earn. It is a challenge and a way of life. And after eight years, we can confirm that it is possible to have more happiness with less. We thank everyone: the response we have received to many initiatives and projects has been more than beautiful.
From the heart, thank you to all the new friends we have made here. We have more — and better — social life than in the big cities. This is what truly matters: Rafi, the Elis, the Alberts, the Núries, the Tons, the Evas, Ignasi, the Futimers of Ramons, Maurici, Espe, the Joans, the Jordis, Feli, Georg, Ilonka, the Joseps, Sílvia, Jorge, Stuart, the Pilars, the Xavis, the Martes, Concepció, Emili, Manel, Mercè, Olga, Andrés, Alfons, and many, many more — the list is endless, incomplete, diverse and contradictory, like life itself, lived with more or less intensity and presence.
Some are now well known, others good friends; a whole fabric that gives meaning to life, with its ups and downs, as it should be, but grounded in deep mutual respect, built over time, sincerity, and the necessary vulnerability to truly get to know one another.
Some disappear, others arrive — the natural movement of life that affects each of us.
We apply the same philosophy to our accommodations: we offer attractive prices for the services we provide. We want a young couple from Barcelona not to have to spend half a month’s salary on a weekend stay. We are surprised by how expensive many accommodations around us are, as if spending a weekend outside the big cities were a luxury for a few, while at the same time their owners present themselves as left-leaning, rural, and socially conscious. This hurts more than anything else. (And some even run worse businesses, with little satisfaction and a lot of complaints.)
We feel the same about other proposals that seem aimed more at the newly rich than at everyone, yet are presented as green and socially committed, but are not made for ordinary people — families who have to watch every euro they spend.
Over the past year, we have lived here under a certain pressure. There are plans to install wind turbines right in front of our home, which would have a devastating effect on everything we have built here. For many months, this has affected us deeply — even mentally. Fighting and worrying about negative things leaves a mark. But one must move forward, one must recover.
A very good friend — not because of time, but because of affection — told us recently: struggles are won by doing good things, not by being dragged into the terrain of the defeated. And in truth, even those who want to place this in front of us are losing. They make society lose as well — the same society they belong to — and they make people, rightly convinced of the need for renewable energy, stop asking about the “how”…
And never — when we have left the “how” entirely in the hands of large corporations, investment funds, and politicians influenced by lobbies — has the outcome been beneficial for our societies: not in the short, medium, or long term.
The use of already degraded spaces for energy production remains minimal, while the destruction of vulnerable and beautiful landscapes continues at maximum speed, without real necessity and without restraint… We are a sad and deplorable species; too often it seems we have no remedy.
We will fight, and we will keep fighting — but leaving behind the defeated spirit that, unfortunately, surrounds almost all initiatives. They cannot even withstand irony or humor and, instead of doing the work, are more concerned about their reputation.
We do not know how this story will end, but as long as we are here, we will continue to do things — and more things — with the spirit of offering opportunities, enjoying, and communicating. Everyone is welcome: both those who agree and those who do not. All of us who live here have strong character, and the hardest thing for strong characters is forgiveness. A good provocation is often received as an insult, but it also carries affection, concern, and wounds — and when real conversation happens afterward, it often leads to laughter, to smiles, and to a deeper respect… we are vulnerable.
The philosophy of Cal Talaia is to offer opportunities and space: no one finds the door closed.
These banners deeply bothered some parties and members of the Parliament of Catalonia, to the point of triggering a kind of mobbing by local power figures in the street, from so-called civil society. What matters most to them is to look good — and that’s how they become trapped, ineffective.
Important issues require radicality, deep and genuine opposition. The lack of dialogue, consideration, and respect is so great, and MPs, parties, and the administration are so aligned with official and corporate narratives, that only a radically opposing stance can force dialogue, can force consideration. And when satire and irony are discarded, spirit and strength are discarded as well. Satire and irony do not hurt for the sake of hurting — they hurt to hit the mark. When they provoke, when they disturb, they have meaning, especially when the situation is desperate.
- We are firm advocates of a universal basic and unconditional income, as proposed by Götz Werner: a commitment to the liberation of creativity and the social restructuring it entails, in which work considered of low value and social recognition is better paid, while work that offers greater personal and social satisfaction is less so.
Today, the disparity between precarious jobs and those considered “cool” will ultimately undermine the shared well-being we need. But this requires a change in the tax system to fund it properly and to ensure that imports contribute to financing our social and collective models, making local production more attractive for everything that can be produced — equally or better — at a local or regional scale.
This would also lead to effective, not forced, improvements at a global ecological level. ↩︎
