The village against the world - Dan Hancox

One hundred kilometres from Seville lies the small village of
Marinaleda, which for the last thirty-five years has been the centre of a
tireless struggle to create a living utopia. This unique community drew
British author Dan Hancox to Spain, and here for the first time he
recounts the fascinating story of villagers who expropriated the land
owned by wealthy aristocrats and have, since the 1980s, made it the
foundation of a cooperative way of life.

Today, Marinaleda is a
place where the farms and the processing plants are collectively owned
and provide work for everyone who wants it. A mortgage is ?15 per month,
sport is played in a stadium emblazoned with a huge mural of Che
Guevara, and there are monthly 'Red Sundays' when everyone works
together to clean up the neighbourhood. Leading this revolution is the
village mayor, Juan Manuel Snchez Gordillo, who in 2012 became a
household name in Spain after heading raids on local supermarkets to
feed the Andalusian unemployed.

As Spain's crisis becomes ever
more desperate, Marinaleda also suffers from the international downturn.
Can the village retain its utopian vision? Can Snchez Gordillo hold on
to the dream against the depredations of the world beyond his village?