La Bartra

Refuge-style house at 725 metres in the Prades Mountains, created from the ruins of a tiny farming hamlet abandoned in the 1960s and gradually rebuilt by reusing whatever material could be salvaged. It sleeps around thirty people in rooms, a twelve-bed dormitory and a few small wood and stone cabins, with shared bathrooms and full vegetarian board. Today it is run by two new hosts, whom returning guests also appreciate for their cooking with vegetables from the garden. Naturism is free but never required: you dress or undress as you prefer, in the two unchlorinated pools, in the mud baths and on hikes. The place has a distinct character worth considering before you set off: solar electricity that is only enough to charge phones and laptops, no Wi-Fi in the house (wired internet in the library), smoking restricted to a single spot, drugs banned, marijuana included, and no animals allowed. You wash your own dishes and eat in the communal room. Around it are trails and climbing crags; the house hosts taiji courses for groups and four seasonal festivals, as well as meditation and yoga retreats, but you can also come without taking part in anything. It is open all year round. To get there you go via La Riba: your sat nav may suggest the road from Rojals, which is not the right one.