Three days in Valencia: a team building in the city nobody expected
This spring, NEW STORIES designed and produced a three-day team building in Valencia for a corporate group. Two groups of fifty people, on two different weeks, followed the same programme: a first evening on a rooftop above the old town, a paella masterclass, rafting in Montanejos, and a final day among the vineyards.
None of the participants had been to Valencia before. Everyone left delighted, and our client is already planning to return.
Why Valencia
When companies think of a team building in Spain, Barcelona usually comes first, and more and more, Madrid. Valencia is rarely on the list. That is exactly what made it interesting.
The city has the range a group needs over a few days. The old town, the sea, the futuristic lines of the City of Arts and Sciences, the gorges of Montanejos, and the vineyards of Utiel-Requena, all within easy reach. Each part of the programme could ask something different of the team: cooking together, pushing through the rapids, slowing down around a long table.
It is also a city that is simple to move through. Short transfers, little traffic, everything close. For a group of fifty, that means time spent together rather than on a coach, and a programme that keeps its rhythm from morning to night.
Three days, three rhythms
Day one: arriving together
The first evening set the tone. After settling in, the group met on the rooftop of Àtic Palau Alameda, high above the city, at long tables dressed in blue and gold.
For colleagues who rarely share the same office, it was the first chance to sit side by side, with Valencia lighting up below.
Day two: one pan, one boat
In Valencia, paella is never cooked for one. It is made in a single, wide pan, by several hands, and it only works if everyone respects the timing. At My First Paella, aprons on, the teams learned the Valencian recipe the way it is made at home, then sat down to share what they had cooked. Laughter came quickly, and so did the first real conversations.
In the afternoon, the same people were in rafts, paddling through the rapids of the Mijares river in Montanejos. A raft only moves if everyone paddles in rhythm, and the bravest finished with a jump into the cold water below a waterfall. The night carried on at Marina Beach Club, by the sea.
Day three: the vineyards
The last day slowed everything down. At Vera de Estenas, one of the oldest wine houses in the region, the group visited the cellar, tasted the estate's wines and gathered for a long country lunch under the pines, looking out over the vines. Conversations had little to do with work by then.
The evening ended at Zazou, with dinner, a live show and a dance floor that filled quickly, before the night carried on under the arches of L'Umbracle.
A city to discover together
Between activities, the group had time of its own, and Valencia rewarded it. Some walked the old town and stepped into the cathedral. Others went down to the sea, or followed the Turia gardens, the long green park that runs from the City of Arts and Sciences to the historic centre.
None of the participants knew the city before. They left having discovered it together, and that shared discovery became part of what bonded the group.
For our client, Valencia was a revelation. In his words, it is a city made for this kind of event, and he is already looking forward to the next one there.
Some memories from our guests
Planning a team building, an incentive or a company retreat in Spain? NEW STORIES designs and produces bespoke experiences for companies, from the first idea to the last evening. Get in touch.
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