Spain's Guadix cave homes withstand climate change

DW (English)

Humans have always lived in caves. But these cave dwellings in Guadix, Spain, prove that this ancient form of housing has a future.

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00:00As the many chimneys suggest, these are no ordinary hills.

00:06These cave houses are in Guadix, southern Spain.

00:10For Mari Carmen, the cave's constant temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius is just right.

00:16She's proud of her climate-friendly home.

00:22This is the kitchen.

00:24And here, come with me.

00:28Here we have a bedroom, the master bedroom.

00:32It's a good place to sleep, cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

00:38The caves have a very big future.

00:44Central heating?

00:45No need.

00:46And that's despite the rather chilly winters here.

00:49A blessing for Mari Carmen and the 4,500 cave dwellers of Guadix.

00:58Some people think it's a hole, the kind you might find a bear in.

01:02In the past, the caves were just painted white.

01:05There was no water, no electricity.

01:07Today we have everything, thank God.

01:14It was the Moors who first dug out the clay hills, over 500 years ago.

01:20Today the caves are a highly revered cultural asset.

01:27And an inexpensive housing option.

01:29Jorge Herrero grew up in a cave house himself.

01:33Today he digs entirely new caves and extends existing ones.

01:39The caves are cheaper and consume much less energy.

01:45There's no need for air conditioning or heating.

01:49Caves are the essence of nature.

01:51They're unique.

01:57For Jorge, there is no home more sustainable.

02:00Walls and ceilings alike, all is provided by nature herself.

02:04Almost everything he removes is recycled.

02:09We simply dig a hole in the ground.

02:12That's why it's cheaper than building a house.

02:14We don't need a roof.

02:16The hill is the roof.

02:17In everything we excavate, in our case clay, we turn into tiles or bricks.

02:23This cave will have tiled floor made from the very material we dug out here.

02:33The underground homes are increasingly popular, and they come in all sizes.

02:38Juan Calandria is an architect.

02:45He and the cave dweller Rafael Medina want to promote this ecological and economical form of housing.

02:54In future, caves will become more attractive,

02:59as they have a direct impact on the fight against climate change.

03:07There is no concrete here, no steel beams, no energy-intensive materials are used at all.

03:17This was once a small cave, but we extended it bit by bit to 250 square meters.

03:26Very few cave dwellings have property deeds.

03:30In fact, living underground is often not regulated at all.

03:34But the region of Andalusia wants to change this, paving the way for the whole continent.

03:42It can be transferred to other regions.

03:44After all, in Europe there are many like this, with sedimentary rock.

03:53Underground homes can be built wherever ground conditions allow.

03:57Homes like that of Mari Carmen, who has lived in caves from an early age.

04:05My whole life, I was born in a cave, and after I got married, we moved into this one.

04:12I wouldn't swap a cave for a normal apartment, not for anything in the world.

04:19Mari Carmen and the cave dwellers of Guariques are leading exemplary, sustainable lives,

04:24in a form of housing as ancient as it is future-proof.

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