# My caveman experience: squatting with gypsies



## Matt Derrick

http://expertvagabond.com/squatting-with-gypsies/

BY MATTHEW KARSTEN IN ADVENTURE, CULTURE, SPAIN | 14 COMMENTS





My Luxury Cave Accommodations

*GRANADA, SPAIN*
There’s a remarkable community of gypsy travelers who squat inside abandoned caves in Spain. This is my unusual story of spending the night with them.

_Dinner was surprisingly delicious. You’d never know it came from a dumpster._

Earlier that night, my Romanian hosts Sorina & Alex disappeared for about an hour to go “recycling”. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Had I known they were out collecting free food, I would have joined them.

Sacromonte is a fascinating neighborhood on the outskirts of Granada.

For over 500 years, families have been living in the caves carved into hills around here. Primarily the Roma (Gitano, Gypsy) people, but also farmers.

However these days another group has also moved in, a community of more modern gypsies (hippies) from all over the world.





Typical Sacromonte Gypsy Cave

*The Sacromonte Gypsies*
They hail from Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and even North America. Travelers, hippies, nomads, and immigrants who have made their homes in these previously abandoned caves.

It’s estimated that 30-40 of them live here full-time, while many more stay for a month or two, just passing through on their travels.

Sorina & Alex are part of the latter group. Originally from Romania, they were road-tripping through Europe in a van when their driver (who possessed the special truck license needed) left the group, stranding them in Granada for a few months.

I met them while walking around the community. They invited me inside to check out their temporary cave home.





Sorina From Romania





Cooking Dinner in the Cave Kitchen

*Living In A Cave*
The cave has three main parts, or rooms, with two mattresses per section, for a total of six beds. It includes a very basic kitchen area with a gas burner, and even electricity for lights, a blender, and hot-water heater for tea & coffee.

The entrance has a metal door with open bars at the top. A thick blanket covers these bars at night to help keep the cold out. They have a small fireplace inside too, complete with chimney. But the cave is surprisingly warm on its own.

While there is no toilet in this cave, they share a porta-potty with the neighbors. A few open-air community bathroom areas exist too. One in particular has quite a view!





Luis from the Canary Islands





A Glimpse at Life in a Cave

*Earning An Income*
Because rent is free, it doesn’t take much money to make a living here. Many of the gypsies who live in this community earn income from busking (playing music) on the streets of Granada for tourists. Others use their artistic talents to create and sell home-made jewelry, bags, or other crafts.

These types of activities can earn them €10-€20 euros a day.

For instance Sorina makes beautiful necklaces, earrings, and bags out of colorful leather scraps she finds around town. She sells her custom creations to tourists for €5-€10 each.

*Dumpster Diving For Food*
Food is often free too — like the tasty pasta, curry, vegetables, and bread they shared with me that night. If you don’t know anything about dumpster diving, it’s actually not as gross as it sounds.

Supermarkets, bakeries, and produce markets throw out a lot of food every week. Most of it is edible, it just won’t sell. If you know when they throw this stuff out, it’s easy to find. Much of the food is even still wrapped in plastic!





Cave Neighbors From Senegal





Iwan Practicing Flamenco Music

*Spending The Night*
After hanging out all afternoon, they eventually invite me to spend the night with them. The core group consisted of Sorina and her boyfriend Alex from Romania, Iwan and his Spanish girlfriend Maria, and Luis from the Canary Islands.

They’ve been living in the cave for at least 2 months. The night I showed up, four hitchhikers from Germany had just arrived too.

*So there were 10 of us sleeping in the cave that night…*

We spent the evening eating, drinking, smoking, sharing stories and playing music late into the night, with other members of the community popping in to join us from time to time.

I tried my best to understand the different conversations going on in German, Romanian, French, and Spanish. I made a fool of myself by offering a Muslim a glass of wine. I practiced playing the didgeridoo. I watched a Senegalese religious ceremony next door. I shared photos from my adventures, learned about their travels, and told them about life in the United States.





Building A Community Garden

*Giving Back A Little*
The next morning I awoke from my cave bed and strolled outside into the cold air to watch the sun rise over the city of Granada down below. There were a few others up early, sharing coffee and fruit for breakfast while planning to build a community garden.

*I walked over and asked how I could help.*

The leader of the project, Manuel, handed me a shovel and we all began breaking ground. After a few hours toiling in the sun, the garden’s borders were set, a rainwater catch system was in place, and the soil was ready for planting.

The residents of Sacromonte provided me with food and shelter for a night, asking for nothing in return. Helping them build a garden was the least I could do! I was sad leaving for Malaga that afternoon, as I wanted to stay longer.

I certainly won’t be moving into a gypsy community anytime soon, but it was a wonderful experience. And when modern society eventually collapses?

Well, I’ve learned that life as a caveman isn’t all that bad. ★

*More Information*
*Location:* Granada, Spain [Map]
*Useful Notes:* The Sacromonte cave gypsies are a bit wary of outsiders walking around taking photos of them and their homes. If you treat them like a tourist attraction, you could get yelled at or worse. Just keep that in mind if you decide to visit. Make some friends first!


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## Matt Derrick

And another related article from the same website:

http://expertvagabond.com/sacromonte-gypsy-caves/

*Would You Live Like This? Meet Spain’s Nomadic Cave Gypsies*
BY MATTHEW KARSTEN IN PHOTO ESSAYS, SPAIN | 55 COMMENTS



Sorina from Romania prepares dinner

*GRANADA, SPAIN*
There is a fascinating community of people living in Spain who make their homes out of abandoned caves. Join me on a photo tour through Sacromonte’s gypsy neighborhood.

In the hills above the beautiful Spanish city of Granada lies the Roma (gypsy) cave community of Sacromonte. After the fall of the Moorish empire in the 1500’s, the Roma arrived and carved cave homes into the hillside. These days much of Sacromonte has become a tourist spot. Visitors flock here to watch a famous Flamenco dancing show.

But if you hike above the more visible neighborhood, you’ll discover a slightly different community made up of nomads, hippies, and modern gypsies who now live in the previously abandoned caves. There are about 30-40 who live here full-time, with many others passing through, staying for a few months before moving on.

*It’s an eclectic mix of people from all over the world.*

Most of the caves have electricity, either from solar panels or grid power wired in from outside. Some have TVs. Running water and outhouse-style toilets are often shared between a few neighbors.

I spent a couple days hanging out, taking photos of and learning about the community. Even spending one night in a cave. Please enjoy this rare glimpse into the life of a wandering cave gypsy.




A colorful gypsy cave home




Luis is from the Canary Islands




The hills above Granada are covered in caves




Cave kitchen with electricity and appliances!




Anais from Germany is just passing through




The best views of Granada & Alhambra Palace




Tania from Spain and her dog Wanda help plant a garden




The view from inside a cave




Ella is one of many cave gypsies from Senegal




This cave has a solar panel above the door




Irit moved from New York City into a gypsy cave




Some of the gypsies own horses and ponies




Iwan from Romania studied film in college




Saved the best for last: overflowing outdoor community toilet!


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## Andrea Van Scoyoc

OMG...my dream! I'd soooooo live there!!!

On a side note, Luis' dreadlocks are kick ass.


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## Tude

Very cool articles!


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## Kal

Awesome!!!!


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## Flemmings

Looks awesome. Wonder if there are any settlements like that here in the states. I would move there in a heartbeat.


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## Andrea Van Scoyoc

Lielanthris said:


> Looks awesome. Wonder if there are any settlements like that here in the states. I would move there in a heartbeat.



Same here. If not, I'd love to help start one.

Slab City is really cool, but desert isn't my thing.

I'd like to visit, but not live there. I'd love to start or help start a commune somewhere where there's access to shade, water and would be good to grow a garden.


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## warlo

I have to correct the article by saying that none of the people mentioned or pictured there are actual Gypsies. While I dont mean that all gypsies are hard to manage, by experience and knowing that place, I would say that this person hasnt come in contact with the actual gypsies living there, there are many valleys there and some are used more by hippie/punks and others, some are families and some are mainly used by gypsies, which most of them are not very happy about the others. 
I guess that as many people do, this person confused a Romanian person with a Gypsie, which is quite like thinking all Romanians are dracula as well. Another thing could be to disguise travelers as Gypsies, which happens a lot around europe (and i guess also in the US) which while maybe not being harmful is technically incorrect


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## Andrea Van Scoyoc

Well, for my part, I didn't take offense to the mixing up of the Gypsy/gypsie cultures.

I have Gypsy blood, and yeah, while the article may have been _technically_ incorrect, being mixed race anyway, I learned a long time ago, not to let "the little things" bother me.


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## Odin

warlo said:


> I would say that this person hasnt come in contact with the actual gypsies living there, there are many valleys there and some are used more by hippie/punks and others, some are families and some are mainly used by gypsies, which most of them are not very happy about the others.




Sorry I have to ask, So are you saying that some areas of that "cave valley" have "authentic" "Romani Gypsies" is it?... and those folks are not friendly/welcoming to all the new non authentic travelers that call themselves "Gypsies"... that have taken residence there? Or in general not welcome to new settlers at all...

Like they have a claim of legacy or some such? Outsider unwelcome?


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## warlo

Andrea Van Scoyoc said:


> Well, for my part, I didn't take offense to the mixing up of the Gypsy/gypsie cultures.
> 
> I have Gypsy blood, and yeah, while the article may have been _technically_ incorrect, being mixed race anyway, I learned a long time ago, not to let "the little things" bother me.




I understand, anyways is not the mixing as done in the article that actually bothers me, I should have explained myself better.

The sacromonte valley is actually quite big, and there are many different valleys with hundreds of caves, and while there are some quite mixed people on some of them, most travelers go to the ones where travelers are, which makes a hell of a lot of sense, and stay out of the others, particularly the gypsies. So then when people go out telling about gypsie experience, im a bit like, what? 

I dont know how its over there (USA) with gypsies, but here in europe its horrible, they are super duper discriminated and avoided by people, even by most of the people who claim to support them. They are a bit of a close comunity (and they have all the right and reasons to do so) specially the roma community, but its not like you can come in contact with them and have a nice experience. 

It just bothers me how (and im not talking anymore about this article) positive it sounds some times the word gypsie among travelers, while in my experience being almost two world separated by hidden xenofobia (which is not an attack, most europeans have been educated to have it, so it will take more than just traveling to get rid of it)

I guess this gets out of the post, maybe could be a whole thread


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## warlo

Odin said:


> Sorry I have to ask, So are you saying that some areas of that "cave valley" have "authentic" "Romani Gypsies" is it?... and those folks are not friendly/welcoming to all the new non authentic travelers that call themselves "Gypsies"... that have taken residence there? Or in general not welcome to new settlers at all...
> 
> Like they have a claim of legacy or some such? Outsider unwelcome?




Well, Roma gypsies are more of a concentrated group in the northern / eastern countries, Spain has a beautiful mix of gypsies of anykind (mostly from northern africa) including Roma people.

The caves where digged and built by gypsies initially, so in a way they have something to hold on. Still most of them are owned by some families.

I dont want to generalize about the gypsies in sacromonte valley, I´d hate to do that, so when I mean that there is trouble, I can only talk about my personal experience and of those I trust. Anyways, when a gypsie come and do or say some trouble, everyone seems to remember and that adds up to a the gypsi generalization, but nobody seems to be grouping, say, Europeans every time some european makes some problem.

I cant say they claim a legacy and then act unwelcoming to outsiders. Even me or any sensible person will act in a unwelcoming way to outsiders considering that most of them are tourists who come in huge numbers and make pictures of everybody in a zoo fashion. Then you get people who just come, make a big shit, then go and that doesnt add anything positive to the current crisis of the caves (its borderline eviction since a long time and every time there is a major move from the state, lots of caves are being destroyed to avoid more people moving in)

So no, I want to correct myself as it might seem as I label them as troubling. What I actually mean, is that thats the idea in the back of most people´s mind, the one that keeps them out of real gypsies while on the other hand promoting the title as if we where all friends.

excuse me if im not being really clear, in the middle of this writing I went and ate shitloads of food and lost motivation for this kind of talk, plus im totally full with fat cat syndrom (I can barely stay awake)


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