At 26, María García walked away from a permanent sales job and city comforts to buy a derelict house in the Asturian woods for just €6,000. With no electricity, water, or bathroom, she set out to build a simpler, self-sufficient life—and found a new sense of freedom.
When María García first saw the overgrown stone house hidden in the Asturian forest, she was still working a permanent sales job near Oviedo. The 26-year-old had a stable contract and decent conditions, but the COVID lockdown forced her to question whether the security of city life was worth the pace and pressure. That moment of pause led her to a decision few would dare: she quit her job, bought the abandoned house for €6,000, and moved into the woods with no electricity, running water, or bathroom.
The property, a traditional Asturian building with a stable below and living quarters above, sits on a steep 3,000-square-meter plot. The house was nearly swallowed by weeds when María found it, but she felt an immediate connection. “I always say the house found me, not the other way around,” she told ‘Herrera en COPE’ as she described the turning point in her life.
Learning from Scratch
María arrived with no experience in plumbing, electricity, construction, or farming. She had never grown food or repaired a roof. But she was determined to learn, and began transforming the neglected building and wild land into a home. She cleared terraces on the hillside, started a vegetable garden, and gradually tackled the basics of rural living.
Her new life forced a radical rethink of money and time. “Now I’m rich in time,” she explained, describing days spent working for herself, tending the garden, and improving her home. Her expenses are minimal: she grows much of her own food, buys only essentials like rice, and avoids utility bills altogether.
Building a New Routine
Income comes from two sources: her YouTube channel, ‘El campo y la María’, where she documents her daily life, and selling handmade macramé crafts. Over time, she has added small comforts—a solar panel system for electricity, a freezer for homemade raspberry ice cream, and basic amenities she once took for granted.
Living alone in the forest has brought challenges beyond the practical. Solitude and fear are constant companions, and María admits she sometimes has to push herself to leave the house. Yet she is not isolated: friends and family visit, often drawn by the lifestyle she shares online. She even recounts odd experiences—like a melodic tapping on her bed’s headboard—that she jokingly attributes to her late uncle Carlos, choosing humor over fear.
Redefining Rural Life
For María, the greatest reward is the daily immersion in nature. She feels lucky to witness the rhythms of the forest and to have found a place where she truly belongs. Her story echoes a broader search for meaning and simplicity that has gained traction in recent years, as more people question the trade-offs of urban life.
Stories of radical lifestyle change are not unique to María. In Galicia, for example, Margarita Paradela has kept a wood-fired bakery running for two decades, working up to 15 hours a day to preserve traditional methods—a dedication explored in this look at Panadería Vilaboa’s enduring legacy.
While not everyone will follow María’s path, her experience highlights the possibilities—and the realities—of choosing a different pace of life in rural Spain. For those drawn to self-sufficiency, her journey offers both inspiration and a clear-eyed view of the challenges involved.
