The Cruces district of Barakaldo works on a plot of about 3,000 square meters. “It’s a pretty sloping ground and we’ve been creating terraces, doing everything by hand,” their peers say. Before they began to cultivate the land, they had to do a great job of conditioning, as the whole area was occupied by brawls. Last summer, on a small plot already prepared, there was a small production of vegetables. “We keep preparing the land, but we are also putting spring plants,” they say.

The Cruces plot has been rented and has been assisted by the Bizilur association. “Through a project developed by themselves we have received some economic support and also training.” They get training from a nearby farmer. In recent months, several neighborhood works and plantations have been carried out. “We’re going to put mostly apples to take advantage of those places that aren’t right to make the orchard,” they say.

Orchard cultivation techniques

Young people who have migrated from the towns of the Amazon region of southern Morocco, citizens born in Barakaldo, from other countries... Diversity prevails in the garden of Barakaldo, both in origin and age: “In our garden, we often hear four languages at once and we gather people of all ages, from about 18 to about 50.” The Amazighs are rural communities, in many cases migrants lack cultivation. “One of its heaviest reasons for migrating is the development of a hyper-productivist model in the rural environment, where landowners have managed to control water and young people do not have much future in this world,” they say.

In the project they try to combine their knowledge with that of others, respecting and negotiating different techniques and rhythms. We are working on an ecological model, and although they still have little production, the objective for the future is to provide dinners and weight that the association organizes. “We’re talking about a dozen people every day, but in the Auzolans we can meet 20-25 people,” they end.