Building a Reference Model for Rural Communities

Núria and her four cooperative partners took over a 60-hectare farm in Sant Pau de Segúries in 2019 to build a regenerative community. “We wanted to become producers to grow food while regenerating La Sala’s ecosystem.” Núria Villanueva Barceló explains, “We were moved to do it in community to reshape how we relate, care, organize, and work together.”

Beyond regenerative farming, Mas La Sala serves as a reference for other rural community projects through their comprehensive approach to education and community building. The five cooperative partners live and work together as an intentional community with weekly emotional support sessions. They also operate multiple enterprises including environmental education, rural tourism, and even a bookshop called La Lluerna in nearby Ripoll.

From Industrial Agriculture to Regenerative Systems

Located in the Ripollès region of northeastern Spain, nestled among forest and meadow in a village of 700 inhabitants, Mas La Sala represents a complete transformation from industrial agriculture to regenerative systems. The farm had been operating as a conventional intensive cattle operation for 20 years, which the team at Mas La Sala closed down in 2022 in order to implement their regenerative vision.

Today, their farm centers on two key areas: meat production through regenerative practices such as rotational grazing, water management, and the genetic selection of rustic cattle adapted to a 100% pasture-based diet, and fruit and vegetable production in a 3-hectare syntropic agroforestry system that integrates tree strips with rotational grazing, and in a 0.3-hectare bio-intensive market garden where no heavy machinery or chemical inputs are used.

Knowledge Sharing and Community Impact

Cooperative Mas La Salsa actively shares knowledge through university collaborations, technical training, and co-organizing a major annual gathering of regenerative farmers across Spain and Portugal (VIII Iberian meeting). Their vision extends beyond farming to regenerating food systems, economic structures, and rural communities through their replicable model of cooperative housing, regenerative agriculture, and community-centered business approaches.

Their 80 endangered Ovella Ripollesa sheep, 28 Asturiana and Angus cows graze 100% on pasture, contributing to soil fertility while shaping the landscape. The syntropic agroforestry systems combine apple, cherry, pear, plum, with biomass trees like ash, while their bio-intensive garden feeds the local families through weekly vegetable and fruit shop in their farm.

Mas La Sala's approach to combining regenerative agriculture, cooperative living, education, and cultural activities demonstrates how industrial farms can be transformed into thriving regenerative systems that serve both land and community.

As Núria concludes, "We chose the cooperative structure because it lets us live, work, and build resilience together and hopefully inspire other rural projects with what’s possible."