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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (November 2026). They will be updated if Holistika Center submits its own information.

Holistika Center: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Barcelona, Spain and Bern, Switzerland

Holistika Center is a Barcelona-based organizer founded by Ritshi Zenati that holds two to four-day ayahuasca weekends in rented venues near Barcelona and Girona and in Canton Bern, Switzerland, with events also listed in Málaga, Hamburg and Oslo, adding optional kambo, bufo (5-MeO-DMT), San Pedro and yopo, for up to 12 guests from €550, per its Retreat Guru page. Guests rate it 4.7 from 58 reviews on BookRetreats. Against that, it publishes no contraindications, medical staff or emergency plan for a multi-medicine program, names no company, labels a Barcelona venue as Bern, and its refund terms contradict each other.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: Rented 18th-century farmhouses about an hour from Barcelona airport, per its Retreat Guru page, and a private venue in Canton Bern about 50 minutes by train from Bern, whose address is sent shortly before arrival, per its Bern listing.
• Approach: Two or three night-time ayahuasca ceremonies with live music, rapé and sananga, family constellations and group work, with kambo, bufo and San Pedro offered as extras; it also sells psilocybin and ayahuasca microdosing coaching online.
• Suitable For: Adults in Europe wanting a short weekend format who can screen themselves and accept the legal uncertainty. Not suitable for people taking antidepressants or with heart or psychiatric conditions.
• Costs: In Bern, €590 for two ceremonies and €885 for three, with a €250 deposit after an evaluation call, plus a €89 preparation session for first-timers; kambo, bufo and San Pedro are €170 each. Barcelona weekends are €550 to €800 plus €100 for medicines, and Málaga €1,111 to €1,555, per its program page. The host terms say deposits are “strictly non-refundable”, while BookRetreats shows free cancellation up to a day before.
• Overall Assessment: Popular, well-reviewed weekends with an evaluation call and integration options, offset by no published medical safeguards for ayahuasca combined with bufo and other medicines, an anonymous team and company, and contradictory locations and terms. Directory evaluation: C-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

BookRetreats shows 4.69 from 58 reviews on the Bern listing (52 five-star, four one-star) and 4.75 from 55 on its organizer page, a pool that mixes Spanish and Swiss events; the one-star ratings carry no text. Retreat Guru shows 5.0 from two reviews. Guests describe life-changing experiences, a safe space to be vulnerable, supportive facilitators, live music and good food; one came for anxiety, alcohol and grief and reports finding peace. A run of short, generic five-star reviews appeared between July and August 2026. No reviews were found on Google, Tripadvisor or Trustpilot beyond two positive Google reviews copied to BookRetreats. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English, Spanish, French and German-language news for reports involving Holistika Center, Ritshi Zenati and facilitator Darwin Grajales.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and fraud: None found.
• Legal action: None found.

Most of the team publish first names only, and the four one-star BookRetreats ratings have no text, which limits this search.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with this center, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Who runs it. Founder Ritshi Zenati describes himself as a holistic life coach, psychedelic and microdosing coach and plant medicine facilitator with self-issued certifications, and says the group has followed the Cofán tradition of Putumayo, Colombia, since 2017 and guided over 2,000 participants (unverified). The team is listed by first name only, including a “Master Facilitator” Florin, a constellations therapist, musicians and a “medicine man”; team size is given as four, ten and 20 in different listings. Darwin Grajales appears in one Barcelona event title. The contact number is Spanish, and no social account, company or Swiss or Spanish registration was found.

Screening and medical support. Guests have a 30-minute “Health & Risks Evaluation Call”, an evaluation form and questionnaires, and first-timers a paid preparation session that “covers medical contraindications”, but no contraindication list is published. No medical staff or emergency protocol is described; facilitators are described as trained in ceremony holding and emotional support. Because the venue towns are not published, the nearest hospital cannot be assessed.

Listings. The Retreat Guru center is labeled “Bern, Switzerland” while describing a Barcelona-area venue, a Bern event reuses an old Marbella event link and its reviews, and a Girona event carries a Swiss title. Rooms are listed as both shared and “private rooms only”, and “all inclusive” prices add €100 for medicines.

Status. Operating, with events listed through May 2027 and Bern dates in November and December 2026.

Legal context. Ayahuasca is not specifically regulated in Spain and most seizure cases have ended in acquittal, although police have intervened in ceremonies, per Lucid News. In Switzerland DMT is prohibited but the brew itself is not listed, per ICEERS, and a Geneva court acquitted an unrelated ritual leader in April 2026 for error of law while upholding the brew’s destruction, per the Cour de justice ruling. Psilocybin and mescaline are controlled in Switzerland, per MLL News.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Offering bufo, a serotonergic drug, on ayahuasca weekends with no published contraindication list or gap is a serious concern. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes it dangerous with SSRIs and other serotonergic drugs and that it is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

Ayahuasca described as following the Cofán tradition; the source and brewer are not published. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Rural farmhouses in hills with forests and vineyards near Barcelona, with a pool, and a nature-surrounded venue in Canton Bern, per its listings.
• Rooms: Shared or double rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi, per the Bern listing.
• Style: A Cofán-inspired ceremony blended with coaching, family constellations, yoga and live music, run by a European team.

Practical guidance: For Spain, fly to Barcelona (BCN); for Switzerland, travel by train from Bern to the pickup station. Airport transfers are not included.

Should You Book?

Possibly, with care. Ask in writing for the venue’s name and town, the full names of the facilitators and who serves the medicine, the contraindication list, the gap between ayahuasca and bufo, who on site is trained in first aid, the nearest hospital, which refund terms apply and the legal entity you are paying. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Holistika says it began in 2017 with retreats for French and Spanish participants only and added English-language retreats in 2023; it brands its events “Inner Evolution”. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing, plan any change with your own doctor and decide in advance which extra medicines you will decline. After you return: Use the integration call and group offered and arrange support from a qualified therapist at home. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Dates are listed on Retreat Guru and BookRetreats. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed November 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.