‘Everyone raps about gangs and knives, but why not rap about farms and sun?’
Lucas Ruiz is building a completely new life for himself(Image: Lucas Ruiz)
A Newport man says a “lucky” cryptocurrency investment helped him leave behind a troubled past and start a new life running a small farm in Spain.
Lucas Ruiz from Pill said his crypto funds multiplied in 2024 and used the money to purchase a piece of land near the Portugal border last year.
Currently non-arable land, Luke said he is working hard to turn it into a working farm that he hopes will help the local community. He said his life now is unrecognisable to the one he led back in the UK, and he hopes sharing his story will help inspire others who feel stuck in a rut.
The 30-year-old told WalesOnline: “My story is a typical Newport story. I grew up on a council estate and I was going through a mad time [with my family]. I had a bit of an up and down childhood; it wasn’t the worst.
“I wasn’t the best kid but I was struggling with things growing up. Then when I turned about 15 I moved into hostels. From there it was a downward spiral. I had no money and then the quick money came. I got into the wrong crowd of people in hostels and in town: drug users.
“I started selling drugs at 17, 18. By the age of 19 I was in prison. I had six years for that and I ended up doing three years in prison.”
After his release from prison, Lucas said he struggled to rebuild his life in the UK due to working long hours in low-paid work.
He said: “I was working a job, chasing my a*** every week, [it was] traffic management in Bristol. I would get there at 6am and be getting back at about 8pm – and that burnt me out.
“When I first moved into my house in 2020 the rent was only £500 and by 2023 it was £1100. The wages I was earning didn’t change as much as that, so it was a constant chasing my a***.”
Lucas said it was this period of instability that eventually pushed him to consider leaving the UK. “I just accepted that was my situation,” he said. “Then one day I thought: ‘I can’t keep living like this.’ I thought: ‘Do you know what? I’m going to go and start a new life in Spain.’” Never miss a Newport story by subscribing to our newsletter here
Lucas said he got “lucky” when funds he invested in cryptocurrency in 2024 increased significantly in value, allowing him to buy a piece of land in Spain more recently.
He said: “Everyone was talking about crypto and how it was making people a lot of money. Just before Trump got elected I put £5,000 into crypto and when I woke up it was £55,000 so I was over the moon. With that I thought: ‘I’m going to go for it,’ because that’s always been my dream. I’ve always wanted to have a farm in the sun. I withdrew that and purchased the land which was £5,000.”
He described buying the land as a surprisingly straightforward process. “If you search on Google it will seem like it will take you 10 years to do it,” he said. “I literally walked into a place, saw the land for sale online, met them up there, bought the land, looked them up and down and thought: ‘I can trust these people.’
“I went to the estate agents and then I had to wait a few months so I could get some legal paperwork to be done and for people to have first refusal of the land in the area. I had to get a social security number, then I had to go to the notary – which was a three month process – and it was done.”
Lucas said he has spent the past eight months transforming the land into a small community-focused farming project.
He said: “At the moment I’m building the farm. As much as you can call it a farm at the moment, I bought a piece of land which was unusable. I used Chat GPT and used as much of my knowledge as I could – and common sense – and I’ve just gone for it. I’m turning it into usable land which can have some use to the local community.”
While he said the project is still in its early stages, Lucas hopes it will eventually provide affordable produce for people living nearby. He said although he hasn’t had many hiccups, one problem he has encountered is distrust from locals because he comes from the UK. Lucas said he is hoping to build good relationships with his neighbours to overcome this, and understands why he hasn’t had the warmest welcome so far.
He said: “I haven’t had many hiccups apart from locals being forced out because tourism has pushed people out. There are families who have been here for 80 years who can’t afford the rent any more.”
Lucas said he has already attracted attention from local officials and is due to meet the town’s mayor to discuss the project and how it can benefit the community.
He said: “I’m meant to have a meeting with the mayor of the town in a few weeks who has seen the videos and wants a chat; she wants to see what we can do. I’m not doing it as a regular farm; it’s going to be tiny, but I hope it’s a project that I can carry on doing in the future. Hopefully in 10 years the neighbours come and ask if they can buy the land and carry on doing it.”
His vision is for the farm to serve local residents and businesses on a small scale. Describing his vision, he said: “If you needed some eggs, you could walk to my farm and pick some eggs up. If the local cafe needed 20 eggs from me a week, I’d be going to drop them off every week.”
Lucas said he hopes to keep chickens and ducks on the land, but stressed that he is not interested in farming animals for meat.
He said: “It’s a bit small but I’m looking to put a few chickens on it and a few ducks, mainly stuff that won’t cost me a bomb and helps the community. I’m not looking to kill an animal either, I don’t have that in me I’m an animal lover.”
Lucas said he is also interested in growing vegetables, but before he does that he is waiting for a dedicated water supply to be installed.
He said: “I’m waiting for my own water supply. Over here it’s a longer process than in the UK. It’s in the pipeline and I’m just waiting for them to ring me and give me a start date.” Once that’s in place, he said he will turn to easy crops such as runner beans.
For now, he is concentrating on learning the basics of farming and deciding exactly what else he should grow.
“I thought about orange trees but they take up a lot of space and they need a lot of caring for,” he said. “I’m still learning. I think I’m going to start off with the simpler things.
“The thing these days is that if you don’t know something you can Google it or watch a YouTube documentary about it. You can learn a lot through that. It’s not hard, it’s just about learning and getting it right. But it’s not as simple as just putting a plant out in the sun. I’ve learnt that the hard way. I did that at the beginning and it looked like a flame thrower had been on them.”
So far the move has had a significantly beneficial impact on his wellbeing, Lucas said. He has been documenting this through his Instagram page @UKtoSpainfarmm
He said: “Everyone [I know] is in the same boat in the UK. If you live in a big house you’re chilling, but where I’m from there’s nobody living in big houses and everyone’s families are either robbing or taking drugs and trying to survive.
“Farming [is] freedom, you can do what you want. It’s not just about farming, it’s about the lifestyle. I had bad mental health issues in the UK due to all my history, but I walk around and I don’t even think about that anymore.
“Everyone raps about gangs and knives, but why not rap about farms and sun? Why work in the UK in the rain being depressed when you could wake up in Spain? Over here people go to sleep from 1.30pm to 3pm and have a siesta, they have their family time and time to sort out their appointments and picking their kids up from school.
“In the UK you’re lucky if you get a fag break. It’s a whole new different life. That’s what I’m trying to show people – If I can do it, everyone can.”
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