We’ve bought Can Gínjol, a country house in the horta of…

Months after we signed the purchase of Cal Cisteller, in the Alt Penedès, Fundació Emprius is delighted to announce our second land purchase in a rural setting: Can Gínjol, a country house in the horta of Lleida, the city’s market-garden belt.

Another sign that the Foundation is a useful tool to serve projects that want to foster the common good, strengthen rural life and drive social change, moving beyond private ownership.

Fundació Emprius is now the owner, and we’re finalising a lifelong right-of-use agreement with the steward collective who led the project. The agreement ensures the land continues to be used to strengthen local community life and remain open to grassroots movements in the area and beyond.

The founding group has over ten people with solid experience in Lleida’s social movements. Some have lived on the farm as tenants for five years, and the whole collective has spent over two years planning the project they can now launch.

There’s residential space on the property, plus half a hectare with olive and fruit trees, a vegetable garden, chicken coop, a storage building… And there will be facilities ready to welcome groups — the main thing the project will offer organisations and collectives that need it, based on a mutual aid approach.

The purchase was possible mainly because the founding group raised savings to offer interest-free personal loans that covered most of it. Fundació Emprius contributed financial support and handled the transaction.