The Village Against the World

One hundred kilometers from Seville lies the small village of Marinaleda, which for the last thirty-five years has been the center of a tireless struggle to create a living utopia. Today, Marinaleda is a place where the farms and the processing plants are collectively owned and provide work for everyone who wants it.

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

Dan Hancox is a journalist who has written for the Guardian, the New Statesman, Independent, Frieze, New Inquiry, National, Dazed & Confused, Q magazine, Mute and The Wire. He is the author of two ebooks: Kettled Youth and Utopia and the Valley of Dreams.