El Ciempiés is an intergenerational cohousing project in Arucas, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. 12 It is organised as a non-profit cooperative that combines housing provision with consumer and user services. 212 The cooperative retains collective ownership of the homes and grants members a lifelong or renewable right of use in exchange for a fee, rather than selling or renting individual properties on the conventional market. 12
The initiative began in 2018, when a group of people came together to seek an alternative to ageing in isolation and to develop a community-based way of living. 13 El Ciempiés was formally constituted as a cooperative in November 2020. 2 Its founding group was associated with Semilla del Norte, an organisation created to promote collaborative housing based on use rights. 411
The project is intended to provide an alternative for older and younger residents, with intergenerational participation, self-management, mutual care, solidarity, sustainability and involvement in community decisions among its stated principles. 12 Its activities cover the organisation of housing, shared residential services and the development of a community model centred on autonomy, participation and person-centred care. 27 The cooperative’s statutes define its wider purpose as providing dignified, affordable and sustainable housing through a community-based organisation of residential life. 12
The planned development is in the Santidad area of Arucas and has been designed for 26 homes on a 3,113-square-metre site, with extensive communal areas. 36 Reported shared facilities include urban gardens, a communal dining room, laundry facilities and work rooms. 5 The project developer is El Ciempiés Sociedad Cooperativa, with José Antonio García identified publicly as its president and representative. 56