CONTEXT & OPPORTUNITY
Across rural Spain, villages are disappearing as populations decline and local economies weaken.
What if hospitality could help reactivate these places, rather than simply creating another destination?
NEARBY explores a model where restoring existing homes can bring people, activity and value back into small Spanish villages.
IDEA
NEARBY restores existing homes in rural Spanish villages, working with local councils and businesses to create a different kind of retreat.
A place to reconnect with yourself, nature and your surroundings, without a programme telling you how.
There is no itinerary to follow.
No wellness programme.
No expectation to socialise.
You can simply be there.
The only rule is to leave your phone behind.
Optional activities connect guests with the village: ceramics, bread making, cheese making, vineyards, hiking, cooking and more.
THE LOCAL MODEL
NEARBY is designed to become part of the village. Restored homes connect guests with local producers, craftspeople, farmers, restaurants and residents.
Food comes from nearby. Activities happen with local people. Existing buildings are given a new life.
The village is part of the experience.
INSIGHT
We often look for ways to slow down, quiet the noise and be more present.
But in rural Spain, many of these experiences already exist naturally and many of the places where they happen are slowly disappearing.
The pace is slower. The senses are more involved. Things are grown, crafted, collected and shared. NEARBY creates the conditions for reconnection, while helping preserve the places that make it possible.
You don’t need to document the experience to prove it happened. A review might mention an incredible loaf of bread, a woman called Pepita, or an afternoon spent somewhere you can’t quite explain.
You arrive knowing very little.
Maybe you look for Pepita.
Maybe you meet her.
Maybe you don’t.
The story travels. The experience remains yours.
ART DIRECTION
The art direction translates this feeling through the senses.
Rather than simply showing beautiful rural landscapes, the imagery captures what it feels like to be there. It makes you want to experience it, to slow down, feel and be.
MY ROLE
Concept, Brand Strategy & Art Direction. Self-initiated project.
