TIERRA PAZ  – El Palmar, Spain

history of the creation of a tiny eco yoga sanctuary by the atlantic ocean of southern Spain

Hi there, I´m Pia 🙂 I´m a yoga instructor, Thai massage therapist, architect and lover of life from Germany, living in Spain, and I have a dream: I am moved by a deep desire to create and offer a space of peace and silence that respects nature and makes the least possible negative impact on our planet. I believe that with little effort we can live in harmony with nature and in human union.

TIERRA PAZ is my personal expression of a piece of paradise, in the town of El Palmar, Cádiz – my chosen paradise to live! – , on the southwest coast of Spain. TIERRA PAZ is a living transmogrification. From barren and arid desert-like ground with two dusty shipping containers into a tiny, nature friendly, serene, self-sufficient, humble and peaceful yoga retreat, inspired by the ideals of permaculture.

As a teacher and life long student I know than Yoga & community are probably one of the most profoundly impactful things on earth. For me, they were the reason of waking up and starting to live a totally different life – my TRUE LIFE – and I believe that yoga retreats should NOT be an exclusive luxury experience.

My love of yoga, of nature and animals, of the ocean, of peaceful and simple living and of all human beings is where my vision for TIERRA PAZ – land of peace – began. 

What I aspire to create is a space of simple living, where people can escape to to find peace, joy and rest. A place where one can heal, blossom and thrive, and where I can share my loving kindness with everyone. A place that creates awareness by living example of how we can take care of our planet to make this world just a little bit better.

TIERRA PAZ in El Palmar – how it all began

In summer 2022 I bought this small plot of land, 1000m2, totally off grid but only 10 minutes cycling down to one of the most virgin beaches of southern Spain, Playa El Palmar! When I arrived, there was no water or electricity, no kitchen or shower, it had only 2 old  shipping containers with a big dusty metal porch on it. The place looked run down and unloved (and quite frankly just ugly!) but with the eyes of an architect, I instantly began to visualize my big dream here on this dry, arid land. And so… TIERRA PAZ was born!

Wrapping up the first 2 years on TIERRA PAZ

The first year on TIERRA PAZ

transforming the land into a beautiful place to live (water, solar power and important constructions)

The project has come a long way since its humble beginnings – it had no water or electricity, no toilet or kitchen. In the past 18 months I worked day and night with my own bare hands – and the unfailing help of my partner – to transform this off-grid land with 2 run-down shipping containers into a beautiful, 100% sustainable place to live.

3 short videos of the first year´s constructions:

Short Video – PART 3 OF 3 – making a home – conversion of the small container (C6)

The first year on TIERRA PAZ – August 2022 – making the place liveable

Since I started to live on my new land, probably the busiest – but happiest – phase of my life began! In the mornings I work remotely as an employed architect, and after a quick lunch I put on my working clothes and started to 

> dig earth

> build an improvised kitchen and a compost toilet,

> figure out where to cheapest buy a big enough water deposit and which solar system I need and I can afford,

> send over all my dad’s tools from Germany which he sadly doesn’t need any more,

> build a workshop for them (the tools)

> build a new roof over the small container to install the solar panels on (6 months of saving money for them)

> planting trees and medicinal herbs
> trying to sow grass for lawn which 1 day later was transported away by 5 different ant tribes 

> surviving the first winter with heavy rains, outdoor kitchen flooded, no electricity (just the small system of my van!), no hot water

> and by the end of this first year (in May/June 2023) renovate the small container as a second living unit for guests and – what a historical moment – a bathroom with a hot shower!!

The first year on TIERRA PAZ photo gallery

Summer intermezzo

Summer rentals 2023

Summer brought a break in building. I started to rent out the big container to conscious living summer guests, and it was amazing to witness how they all felt the peace of this land immediately and didn’t want to leave anymore. Check it out for summer 2024

The second year on TIERRA PAZ –

Earth works for water retention and the gray water system, front and back facade for the small container, renovating the big roof of the porch (first step towards creating the future yoga shala), a kitchen for C6, a washing mashine and the yoga deck / sun deck

Insulating the back (north) facade of C6 (my tiny house)

Year 2, PART 3 OF 5, February 2024

YOGA deck & more

Year 2, PART 5 OF 5, May to July 2024

second year on TIERRA PAZ – October 2023 to February 2024

The second year started with more earthworks (like the beginning of the first year) to finally build a surface water catchment system and a gray water recycling system to both protect the living area (unfortunately the lowest point of the land) from flooding and to not waste a single drop anymore.

Every drop spent now in a shower or in the kitchen will be reused to water the plants, yeii!. Gutters for rainwater catchment are mounted, but until now I only have a small deposit (> one of the tasks for year 2: extend the amount of rain water deposits!).

These earthworks taught me what it means to have an excavator on the land, destroying all the surfaces, and a delivery of some 10 tons of stones (for the trenches and ponds of the surface water catchment system) which we then had to distribute over 4 weeks by hand. HARD WORK! And another 4 weeks of distributing or reorganizing all the mountains of earth that came out of the trenches.

After the first shock I realized what beautiful garden designs I can do with all this earth 🙂

second year on TIERRA PAZ – March to July 2024

After these hard months of moving earth and stones, and a week-long intermezzo of insulating and cladding the back facade of my tiny house (the small container), one of the most important steps towards building my own Yoga Shala started: the renovation of the roof of the porch. 2 months of more hard work, taking the old metal sheets down, sanding all wooden and metal beams, treating them with antioxidants to hold the new roof and finally building the now cover over the existant structure: An insulated timber roof with integrated lights and electricity! What was green and ugly before now is white with wood and I love it!!

Next year – when I have saved up enough money – I will build the floor and the facades and then the porch becomes the new Yoga Shala.

For now, we built an outside yoga deck, we upgraded the small container with it´s own little outside kitchen, assembled 2 new water deposits for the rain water catchment of both roofs, and finally installed a washing mashine which of course runs with solar power and the waste water goes to the grey water collection tank.

the porch before and after the roof renovation

the rainwater collection tanks (6000L) and the new yoga deck

WORK & ENERGY

Except for the excavator, EVERYTHING – from the design to buying the material and executing the work until now is the work and sweat of my own bare hands and body. I am blessed that my father taught me to be a handy woman when I was still a kid and that I LOVE building and getting my hands dirty. Also, it’s the first time in my life that I design something for myself  as an Architect – simple and economic, but sustainable and ecologic solutions – and that shortly after I execute it, which is beautiful and fulfilling, but requires a lot of stamina and daily motivation.

CALLING FOR HELP – Conclusion of a SUPER WOMAN 🙂

These past 20 months (writing this in January 2024) have been a huge learning curve, as most of the things – plumbing, electricity installations, tiling, digging the land to saw, etc – I had never done before. And I have to admit, that after these first 20 months of enthusiasm and working non stop (mornings to earn money, afternoons to nights constructing), my energy and my faith in building up this dream are fading a bit from time to time. Maybe I dreamt too big….

Financial limits don´t allow me to pay any craftsman to do any of the hard or complicated work. All materials, EVERYTHING, is just so expensive, that I don’t know if I will ever finish, just going on with my own money and my own hands.

“We think we are superwomen, but we are not ;)” is what a friend said to me when I was hit the second time with a sacroiliac dislocation from the hard physical work.. Well… I do think we are! In many ways. But yes, our super power has its limits…;)

This is why now, January 2024, I am organizing a CROWDFUNDING, because I´m in need of external help

CROWDFUNDING for TIERRA PAZ

become part of creating this tiny eco yoga sanctuary – ANY HELP is appreciated

but not everything is work, we also enjoy living in this paradise of El Palmar and TIERRA PAZ a lot!! 🙂

The true owners TIERRA PAZ: Panchito, Pipi, Rocky y Trece

Where is TIERRA PAZ ? In El Palmar, Cádiz, southwest Spain

Playa El Palmar – Costa de la Luz – Andalusia – costa atlantica