Cabril Eco Rural

Cabril Eco Rural is an eco-tourism and sustainable living project rooted in the village of Cabril, in the Barroso region, fully located within the Peneda-Gerês National Park. Inherited by its caretaker along with its rich cultural legacy, the project is guided by a deep commitment to preserving and passing on traditional knowledge to future generations, alongside promoting balanced, conscious consumption and a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. The surrounding landscape is defined by abundant streams, waterfalls, and lagoons, and by ancestral agricultural and pastoral practices that are still alive today, including small-scale family farming that provides organic, seasonal food, and sheep herding as an important source of local income. Cabril Eco Rural documents and practices traditional flax cultivation and processing—known locally through terms like "arrincar" rather than "arrancar"—following the full slow cycle from sowing to rippling and river-retting the fibres, an ancestral, patient process that keeps generations of craft knowledge alive. Through its work, the project invites people to reconnect with nature, health and wellbeing, framing sustainability as a balance between what is taken and what is given back to the land. Visitors are welcomed to experience rural Barroso life directly, discover the region's natural landmarks within the national park, and learn about traditional crafts such as linen-making and wool shearing, all rooted in respect for nature and cultural heritage.