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

La Mezquita: An In-Depth Review for Psychedelic Retreats in El Campello, Spain

La Mezquita is a psychedelic retreat venue in a former Moroccan restaurant about 100 meters from the beach in El Campello, north of Alicante, founded in 2019 by Sanson Berriedale Johnson, known as Babaji, who also leads a group he calls the Spanish Psychedelic Society, according to its Retreat Guru page. It currently sells four-day psilocybin and San Pedro retreats for €1,200 and one-day sessions for €400, with live music, psychologists and integration; ayahuasca weekends ran through December 2025 through a membership association. It rates 4.89 on Retreat Guru from 144 reviews and publishes a real screening process. Against that, no website, legal entity or medical staff is disclosed, its listing tells guests its substances “aren’t fiscally controlled in Spain” although psilocybin and mescaline are controlled, refund terms conflict, and in April 2024 the Guardia Civil raided an unnamed “psychedelic” association running retreats in El Campello; the reports do not name La Mezquita, and the link is unverified.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: El Campello, Alicante, near the Fabraquer tram stop, with mountain ceremonies about 20 minutes away, according to its listings. Lodging is in rooms a short walk from the venue. No street address is published.
• Approach: Psilocybin mushroom and San Pedro ceremonies with live music, yoga, sound baths, craniosacral work and integration, described as following “John Hopkins/Imperial College methodology”; earlier, ayahuasca with rapé.
• Suitable For: Adults without psychiatric risk factors who understand the legal exposure in Spain. Not suitable for people taking antidepressants or antipsychotics, with a personal or family history of psychosis or bipolar disorder, or with heart conditions.
• Costs: €1,200 for four days in a private room with a €400 deposit, €400 for a one-day psilocybin session or a San Pedro mountain day, per Retreat Guru. The 2025 ayahuasca weekend cost $926 on BookRetreats. Refund terms on the same page conflict. Our earlier price of $500 is outdated.
• Overall Assessment: Large, positive review pool, a published screening process and an accessible seaside venue, offset by a possible link to a 2024 police raid, misleading legal claims for controlled substances, no disclosed entity, website or medical staff, frequent guide turnover and conflicting refund terms. Directory evaluation: C+.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

The positive picture. Reviewers praise feeling safe, the live music, the food, integration, group bonding and compassionate facilitators, especially Babaji on guitar and handpan.

The negative feedback. No review below five stars is visible on any platform; one reviewer says first-timers might want more structure. Our earlier profile cited a 2024 Reddit post describing emotional overwhelm after intense ayahuasca sessions with limited grounding afterward; unverified.

Who is writing the reviews. The platforms pool reviews across listings, so ayahuasca reviews appear on psilocybin pages, and review counts differ between pages. One HealingMaps reviewer trained with the team. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English and Spanish-language news for reports involving La Mezquita, Sanson Berriedale Johnson, its named ayahuasca guides and its association.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found involving this center.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and fraud: None found.
• Legal action: No report names this center; a 2024 police operation in El Campello is described below.

On April 23, 2024, EFE reported that the Guardia Civil dismantled the premises of a self-described “psychedelic” association in El Campello that promoted psychotropic substances at spiritual retreats, seizing peyote and San Pedro cacti, supposed ayahuasca, hallucinogenic mushrooms and cannabis; its 40-year-old manager was arrested and released by an Alicante court with precautionary measures, as OfficialPress republished. Neither that report nor ABC’s names the association, its venue or the people involved. La Mezquita is in El Campello, calls itself the home of a “psychedelic society” and serves San Pedro and mushrooms, but kept operating afterward, and the founder’s published biography does not match the manager’s reported age. Unverified; we invite La Mezquita to clarify. In August 2025, police broke up a separate retreat group in Pedreguer, also in Alicante province, as CBS News reported; that case does not involve this center. Our earlier profile found no incidents.

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

🔍 Critical Notes

Screening. Guests complete a questionnaire and interview on motives, experience and health, plus a one-to-one on arrival. Exclusions include borderline personality disorder, personal or family history of psychosis, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and antipsychotic use. Antidepressants must be stopped 15 to 21 days ahead, or six weeks for fluoxetine, “consulting your doctor”; the listing frames this as avoiding weaker effects rather than as a safety issue.

Medical support. No doctor or nurse is named. Listings promise “a team of trained therapists specialising in psychedelic therapy,” identified by first name only, and no emergency protocol or hospital is published.

Legal claims. The four-day listing says its substances “aren’t fiscally controlled in Spain.” Psilocybin and mescaline are Schedule I substances under the 1971 UN Convention, which Spain applies; ayahuasca as a brew is neither prohibited nor authorized, and courts often acquit, according to ICEERS. Promoting or supplying controlled substances can carry three to six years in prison under the Penal Code.

Who runs it. No website, company or tax number (NIF) is disclosed; bookings run through Retreat Guru. Ayahuasca ceremonies required membership of “Asociación Cultural Inti” at €20 a year. Guides change often; ayahuasca was led by guests including Javier Marco Barba, who claims recognition by the Shipibo-Conibo, and earlier by a Colombian taita. The founder says he studied psychology at “Merton College, London”; Merton College is in Oxford, and the claim was not checked.

Refunds. The four-day page says the deposit is refundable only 21 days ahead, while its summary box says refundable until a day before; older pages say seven days, and BookRetreats says 60.

Corrections to our earlier profile. The venue trades as La Mezquita, not La Mezquita Ayahuasca Retreat, and current programs are psilocybin and San Pedro; ayahuasca last appeared in December 2025. Prices are published, from €400 to €1,200. The location is El Campello, north of Alicante. No source describes a three-month facilitator training program or transpersonal psychology expertise, though one guide trained at the venue for about a year. A 30-minute consultation, the 2024 Reddit post, 2025 AyaAdvisors reviews praising safe facilitation, and a 20-minute drive from the airport remain unverified. The seaside venue, psilocybin, San Pedro and past ayahuasca ceremonies, yoga, meditation, integration workshops, a team describing mental health expertise, high guest satisfaction and the absence of on-site medical staff are confirmed.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Screening is published, but no medical staff or emergency plan is, and San Pedro sessions take place in the mountains about 20 minutes from the venue. 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

Current sessions use Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, “not truffles,” and San Pedro cactus, with doses “personalized based on factors such as body weight.” Past ayahuasca was served by visiting guides and not described. Ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf such as chacruna, as Erowid explains.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: A seaside town on the Mediterranean, with a sea-view terrace and nearby mountains.
• Rooms: Shared or private rooms a short walk from the venue; earlier ayahuasca weekends charged €75 a night for a private room or €20 for a dorm.
• Style: Psychedelic therapy weekends with live piano and guitar, home-cooked vegetarian food and group integration, for up to eight guests.

Practical guidance: Airport pickup is no longer offered; a taxi from Alicante airport costs about €35, or take tram line 3 or bus 21.

Should You Book?

Only after asking whether La Mezquita or its association was the subject of the April 2024 operation, getting the refund terms and emergency plan in writing, and understanding that the substances served are controlled in Spain. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Sanson Berriedale Johnson describes his first psychedelic experiences in Goa in 1995, a 2013 San Pedro experience that made him a “full-time psychedelic activist,” founding the Spanish Psychedelic Society in 2016 and La Mezquita in 2019, and organizing conferences in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. Current guides include a craniosacral therapist, a pianist and a psychology graduate. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication and condition in writing and plan any change with your own doctor. After you return: Integration sessions are included; arrange ongoing 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 run through December 2026 on the center’s Retreat Guru page. 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.