Hey! I’m Gonzalo, and starting next week I'll be walking 150km+ through the desert in the South of Spain, in the hottest month of the year.

You might be asking, “Why? Couldn’t he just go to the beach for a couple of weeks and relax?”

In large part, I’m walking because this part of Spain didn’t used to be a desert.

Differently to the Tabernas desert in Almeria (the only desert in Europe), the region of Murcia that I’ll be walking through has become desertified due to human intervention over centuries – its current state vastly contrasting the Mediterranean forest it once was.

Deforestation for shipbuilding in the 1500s, “reforestation” of non-native Pine and Eucalyptus monocultures in the Franco-era, intensive agriculture since the Industrial Revolution, and more have led to depletion beyond a point where the ecosystem can regenerate on its own.

The guiding thread among these interventions seems to be the idea that people have a right to extract natural resources without limit.

On the other hand, the place where I’ll arrive after walking in the desert is a regenerative farm, La Junquera. The site is currently over 1100 hectares, and since 2015 has been applying regenerative practices to restore an ecological balance to a point where the ecosystem itself can continue to regenerate.

It is an example of the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of endlessly taking from nature until all resources are depleted, we intervene by doing the opposite: by providing more than we take.

Regenerative practices aren’t exclusive to agriculture – they can and are beginning to weave into architecture, economics, creating community, design, and more.

The restoration project in La Junquera, which I’m fundraising for in this walk, is a great example of the regenerative ideology being applied across the social, ecological, and technical. Explained below in their words:

The Quípar Valley Regeneration Project, driven by La Junquera and the Regeneration Academy, aims to restore this watershed in the northwest of Murcia both ecologically and socially — a region severely affected by drought, overexploitation, and rural abandonment. Through participatory processes, regenerative agricultural practices, and the strengthening of the local social fabric, the project works toward a shared vision for the future based on sustainability and collaboration.

La Junquera, a regenerative farm located at the source of the Quípar River, serves as a model for sustainable agricultural production and a benchmark for territorial transformation.

Meanwhile, the Regeneration Academy promotes education, applied research, and citizen engagement, connecting technical knowledge with local action to regenerate both the landscape and the communities that inhabit it.

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Maybe your specific calling isn’t to be hands-on in a desertified ecosystem, but if you care about a future where systems are just to humans and to the other beings we share the planet with, any contribution to the fundraising will go a long way!

Until the target is met, 75% of the funds raised will go to La Junquera and the Regeneration Academy, while 25% of the funds will contribute to funding the walk itself - anything after that will go fully to La Junquera and the Regeneration Academy.

I’ll also be documenting parts of the walk as I go, and will keep this space updated!

With immense gratitude for your support,

Gonza

And link to my previous fundraising walk in 2022:

Teenage Cancer Trust Fundraising Walk