22/08/2026
Daniel and I appeared in the Diari de Girona a few days ago, they interviewed us about the Ratafia Garden that we are creating in our neighborhood park.
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A Ratafia Garden Is Born from Neighborhood Collaboration and the Drive of Two Americans in Girona
A citizen-led initiative to revitalize a degraded public space in the Devesa-Güell neighborhood overcomes municipal bureaucracy.
Júlia Bagué — August 20, 2026
Through a WhatsApp group, several residents of the Devesa-Güell neighborhood coordinate to go down every day to Plaça Prudenci Bertrana to water a garden of plants used to make ratafia. In a short time, the small plot in front of the children's playground has undergone a transformation: it has gone from being an area full of dog excrement and felled trees whose stumps still remain to becoming a well-tended garden that will soon be in bloom.
Carrying large water jugs that they fill at the public fountain, the volunteers keep this "gift to the city" alive.
The initiative was born from the idea, work, and financial backing of two Americans from Northern California, Laura Hamilton and Daniel Baker, who have lived in the Devesa neighborhood for a year. Since first visiting Girona four years ago, they have watched "the deterioration of the neighborhood."
Dissatisfied with the situation, they wanted to give the city that welcomed them a garden of native plants.
Hamilton, an expert in botany, chose varieties used in ratafia because, she explains, "for centuries they have been considered medicinal plants and have been deeply rooted in Catalan culture."
For months, the two newcomers met with various City Council officials in an effort to get the project started, but they were unable to get the green light.
Finally, city councilor Bea Esporrín put them in contact with Maria Àngels Cedacers, former president of the Devesa-Güell Neighborhood Association.
With her collaboration, they obtained the municipal and neighborhood-association support they needed.
According to Cedacers, "this project demonstrates that the will of citizens rises above political will."
Taking Action
Hamilton and Baker jokingly clarify that they are American immigrants, "but not the bicycle ones."
They explain that in the neighborhood they came from, resident-led initiatives to beautify public spaces are commonplace and "don't require so much bureaucracy."
They were surprised that, despite offering to cover all the expenses and undertake all the work involved in creating and maintaining the garden, the City Council "put so many obstacles in the project's way."
They were clear, however, that they could not simply sit back and do nothing while "watching the neighborhood become increasingly dirty and neglected."
For the couple, the garden is "a glimmer of optimism for the neighbors and an offering to the city that welcomed them."
Cedacers emphasizes the philosophy behind the project, which, in her view, sends a clear message to citizens: "The creation of this garden embodies the desire to change things."
She adds that "we are accustomed to complaining on social media about the things that don't work, but often we don't take action."
Requests to the City Council
Although they obtained the municipal permits needed to launch the project, the Neighborhood Association has asked the City Council to install deterrent wooden fencing and reactivate the sprinklers that are already installed there.
"That way, we can prevent dogs from damaging the plants or people from taking them away," Baker says.
So far, the project has involved no municipal expenditure: the plants, maintenance, and materials have all been paid for by the project's organizers. They have also taken responsibility for painting the wall around the plot "to make it more pleasant to look at."
Educational Functions
The idea for the garden arose in the context of Temps de Flors. "For two weeks in spring, the city fills with flowers that later die and are removed. We want permanent plants and flowers in every neighborhood," Hamilton says.
The self-managed project also has an educational purpose. Cedacers expresses the hope that schools and community centers will use the space "so that the neighborhood's children can learn about, touch, and care for the plants that grow in the forests around them."
Finally, once the plantings are more abundant and have matured, they also plan to offer ratafia-making workshops at the Neighborhood Association's premises, using a harvest grown entirely locally.
