Conxita Enrich (born 1953) owns 12 hectares in Castellbell i el Vilar, a small municipality in the Bages region. She is the seventh generation to inherit the house where she lives and a farm that she wishes to pass on to "a person who loves the countryside and knows how to work it." She is seeking someone with the time and passion necessary to care for the crops. To achieve this, she has turned to the Montserrat Rural Park Land Bank, a project aimed at reactivating abandoned fields. This land bank offers advice to both landowners and farmers looking for plots to cultivate fruits and vegetables.

"It's been about five or six years since anyone has worked the land daily," Conxita explains. Previously, her father took care of it, always with great respect for the environment, as he never used chemical pesticides. Conxita hopes to find someone who shares that same ecological vision. "I know that the Land Bank will help me find someone to keep the farm in good condition," she adds, referring to the initiative she discovered thanks to the Marganell Town Council and which she has already recommended to other landowners.

Moreover, Conxita would like "to be able to pick a small portion of the fruit from the remaining trees." In the past, they cultivated pear and apple trees, but now only a couple of walnut trees and a persimmon tree remain, to which she is very attached. She feels very grateful for the support of the Montserrat Rural Park  Land Bank and is confident they will find someone "who will come and keep everything clean and cared for."

Since childhood, Conxita helped her parents in the vegetable garden, where she learned the art of cultivating the land. In fact, she maintains one near her house that she tends daily, both for her own consumption and for the guests who visit Cal Jepet de la Calzina. In this peaceful and beautiful corner, we bid farewell to Conxita, who, with a constant smile, prepares to collect the blue eggs from her hens and continue sowing joy.

About the Montserrat Rural Park Land Bank

The Montserrat Rural Park Land Bank is part of BCN Smart Rural, the strategy of the Diputació de Barcelona to transform the agri-food sector in the province. Its mission is to connect owners of unused farms with people seeking land to cultivate, offering technical and legal support tailored to the needs of both parties. Additionally, it collaborates with local councils and entities that wish to preserve the rural landscape and promote agricultural activity.

The services offered by the land bank are free and include facilitating contact between parties, providing technical assistance, legal advice, contract formalisation, continuous training, and other actions that directly benefit landowners and tenants. This tool also has a very positive social and environmental impact, as it helps reduce the risk of forest fires, preserve the landscape, revitalise rural areas, and promote the consumption of local products, contributing to the fight against climate change.

For more information about the Montserrat Rural Park Land Bank, please contact Pere Navarro and Marta Martínez, territorial engineers of the BCN Smart Rural strategy.

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —