As I make my way to Ruralco, I can't wait to find out what living here is like. Will it be different from my previous experiences in the artist residencies?

I was warmly welcomed at the Castellon station by Oscar, the owner of Ruralco, who drove us the hour-long road to his casa rural. Chatting in my crumbly Spanish, trying to get most of his, I found out that it was newly built in 2000, but constructed like a traditional Spanish country house. The 14 bedrooms can host up to 28 people. At the moment we are 8.
The windmill next door, a monument that needs fixing up, is also in his care.

He initially set up the co-living community with two friends, but while they ventured off abroad and into marriage, he stuck with it and has since added his sister, who runs the emails and other digital corners of the job, to the staff.

Growing up here, he is well-connected and seems the perfect person to blend the rural ways of nearby towns such as Culla, with the different needs of the people staying at his casa.

As we swirled through olive groves, almond groves, and up the mountain to about 600m, Oscar finally pointed out a tall building with a white facade beaming at us in the sun. Welcome to Ruralco.