The senior coliving experience in Spain

Aimed at people 55-70, co-operative housing projects are attracting seniors in Spain, where they are seen as an alternative to retirement homes.

One of the main attractions is being involved in planning and then self-managing the coliving property, as well as the cooperative shared ownership structure. The emphasis on community life and advocacy for a network of mutual support among its users is part of the blueprint.

Sostre Civic started as an association aiming to offer alternative property tenure and longer-term housing security in Catalunya (Catalonia), Spain. Established to promote cooperative housing projects, it has been a great success, with 28 projects now active and 1,500 members. Many older members see it as an alternative to retirement homes and as offering active old age and an ‘escape from loneliness’.

Reported in La Vanguadia, a leading Barcelona based paper, but fortunately for us, presented in English rather than Catalan (Link below), here is an in-depth story about the projects and the people driving them.

The focus is on the ‘What, where, and with whom do our elders want to spend their old age?’ and the article looks at why most people who are joining a large new co-living development are prepared to sell their (modest) homes in order to live here.

The senior ‘coliving’ phenomenon is booming in Spain – La Vanguardia, Barcelona.

Sostre Civic Co-housing Cooperative – Catalonia, Spain.