The first thing you feel when you enter L’Espai is a magic that is difficult to describe. Although at first glance there are tables, chairs, computers and a set of rooms that, in the early hours of the morning, are empty and might look something like a small school, a split second is enough to realise that it goes much further. You’re immediately overcome by a special energy. You feel the buzz of countless people suddenly wash over you and, in no time at all, you realise it’s made up of everyone who’s ever been here, everyone who will come during the day to take part in the activities, or even spend the morning and afternoon here.
Best of all, men and women over the age of 60 who are eager to learn come together – people who retain an unmistakably healthy curiosity, who don’t just come to attend classes, courses and take notes, but also to give. They come with open arms to establish new relationships and build networks that begin with learning how to use their mobile phones and end with sharing a meal once the lesson is over. The first contact is usually cautious, but from that point to the feeling that someone might be turning up for the first class and, on leaving, grab their packed lunch to share a table with the instructors while waiting for the afternoon session, takes less time than you might imagine.
L’Espai is a meeting point where trust travels at the speed of light and without any risk of going wrong. The theory that initially posits that students come to learn and trainers to teach becomes a perfect, two-way symbiosis once the first informal conversation is verbalised. It is truly surprising how someone who sits and listens to learn how to organise their files better, enter the world of artificial intelligence, stay better informed or better understand their emotions, once they leave the classroom becomes a perfect teacher for their teachers and does so without barriers. Everyone is willing to share an experience, to explain what they have done over the past few weeks or maybe the past thirty years. An avalanche of knowledge and wisdom that opens up infinite avenues of thought, of human interaction, of understanding the country and its surroundings, and best of all: a safe place where everyone, no matter their age, can express themselves, feel useful and supported at the same time. An oasis that teaches us that keeping our minds active today will be fundamental to living better tomorrow.
And we experience all this both behind closed doors and out in the open, with activities out in nature, cultural outings and specialist talks that, in no uncertain terms, show us that the users’ concerns and aspirations are our own too, and if they are not, they ought to be.
Outside the purely educational environment, and to ensure the pot never stops boiling, volunteering rears its head with a host of proposals that we witness every day. Every week, art history, Italian, drawing and French take centre stage, and have done for quite some time. When Christmas comes around, a group of users entirely selflessly turn L’Espai into a nativity scene and still find time to suggest trips to Andorra, Barcelona and France, showing us that sharing and learning is an experience you live 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 360 degrees. Can you imagine the joy we feel when, after a week without classes, people come back and tell us that they’ve missed us? Believe us, we miss them too. Honestly, this is all just a portion of what the day-to-day work entails for us, from when we turn on the lights in L’Espai until we turn off the last switch.
Where does it come from? Why? Thanks to whom? It stems from the desire to give back to society everything it has given us, and it has become a reality thanks to Creand Fundació, which in an increasingly individualistic world decides to set the wheels in motion with the sole focus on others, thinking about what it can do to make life even a little better for those around us. L’Espai is one of the many initiatives that spring from an organisation with admirable sensitivity and a unique flair for getting things done. For us, the mere thought that we are contributing to this project even in just a small way is a tremendous source of pride; it is the satisfaction of being part of this small yet great paradise where we live with and for others, and absolutely everyone who takes part thinks of giving before receiving. Without a doubt, a mirror where you can see yourself reflected is a gift.
Diari d’Andorra, 22.10.2026