Our personal story

Many people ask us why we came to Spain. How difficult it was to settle here and how difficult we have found the transition from one culture to another. Well, the coming to Spain was sparked by a cancer scare which made us both sit up and realize that life can be short and sometimes the course of your life is taken out of your hands so when you do have control make the most of it.

THE BIG DECISION

It all started one very wet and windy day as we sat in our centrally heated lounge watching the rain beating against the window. My husband said "why don' we go and live in Spain". My first reaction was one of "incredulity" that he thought such a life changing event could be decided so easily. Especially considering we had never even been to Spain except for Madrid on a short break. However, after a few moments though I asked why and he said because we might live another 40 years and do we want to sit like this watching the rain on our days off. I had all the usual fears, where would we live, how would we get us and our 4 month old puppy over there, how would we learn the language, what would we do with our house in the UK, our business etc. My biggest concern was what would we do if we did not like it but forever the optimist my husband said that I should look at it as a long holiday and if I did not like it then we could always come back.

THE FACT FINDING MISSION

We agreed to go over, have a look and see what we thought. We first arrived in Spain on the festival of the Three Kings (January 6th). Only having been to Spain once before, and then only for a long weekend, we started our quest in the Costa del Sol which was the only part of Spain we had ever heard of outside of Madrid. Having booked into a hotel in Marbella for 3 weeks we arrived to find that it was not what we had in mind and after a few disastrous property viewings where we discovered that they build them close together in that part of Spain we hired a car and left. We drove along the coast through areas where the scenery reminded us of the Spaghetti Westerns. Later of course we found out that it should have as they were filmed there. Winding our way round the south east corner of Spain into Murcia we were mesmerized by the purple mountains, the green plains which lay between them and the lack of building in the area unlike where we had been only a few days before. I think at that point we knew this might be home but we pressed on up the coast to Valencia where we discovered why all the orange boxes in the UK say Valencia!! By this time our 3 weeks were up and we had to head back to the capital through a snow storm for our flight home. Even driving in the snow we still felt that this might be a new beginning for us and a place we could settle for a long time.

We talked all the way home on the plane and in the car about what and where we had liked the most, if we felt we could settle in Spain and what the next step should be. By the time we took the cases out the car at the other end we were planning a return trip 2 weeks later to Murcia, the area with the purple mountains, to try and find a house. Not only finding a house to live in would be a problem but finding a house to rent while the house was built would be pretty difficult too. In the end we rented an apartment some 50 miles from where we wanted to look for property as this was the only place we could find for rental in the magazines for Spain. Bearing in mind that the internet had not yet reared its head at this time, finding accommodation in another country was not as easy as it is now and involved trawling through small ads in overseas magazines for hours.

THE STEEP LEARNING CURVE

The 50 mile journey was interesting and we discovered that day that Spanish road maps could be a bit unreliable. Having seen the same village with the same old lady sitting outside her whitewashed house 4 times we realized that we were going round in circles. We did however, finally get to the area of our choice and spent the day wandering into the local estate agents asking what they had for sale. The next few hours were a steep learning curve! After many telephone conversations Carmen announced that she had something for us. We were driven into the middle of nowhere where we sat in Carmen's car for 20 minutes until another car approached us up the farm track. It contained a young man called Juan Carlo who told us that he was the Corriador. This meant nothing to us but we later learned that his job was to knock on doors and ask if there were any houses for sale in the area. He took us to what was described as a three bedroom chalet with a pool. It sounded tremendous and very cheap. We arrived at the house to discover that it was in fact a very ancient farmhouse which had been made over. I suspect by the 60 minute make over team as its new decor was falling off not to mention that the roof was falling in. The pool as described consisted of an above ground water deposit choked by green pond weed with a very charming duck swimming around in it. We made our unhappiness known and Juan Carlo got on his phone again. Off we went to another property only to arrive at the gates to see Juan Carl who had gone ahead in his car running towards us and waving us on. He shouted in the open window "no it is no good, the owners said it is in good condition but it is not we go, we go". That day we clocked up 5 no goods, we go before we finally gave in. We also clocked up a lot of hours in a hot car and a fair bit of sunburn into the bargain.

STARTING TO GET OUR BEARINGS

At this point we realized that house hunting in Spain was not like the UK so we needed to take some advice. We called a number we had been given for a solicitor in the area and spoke to a very charming German solicitor who had lived and worked in the area for some years. Our tale of woe was met by hysterical laughter down the phone. When he composed himself he said I am sorry, but all I can say is welcome to Spain. His advice was sound though and he told us to look for a new build property or to use a reputable agent where we could see pictures of the property and get the full details before we were bundled into the car. We returned to the area the next day and located, more by luck than anything else, a small area of housing in construction. We asked around and eventually a very charming man called Ian appeared and showed us the properties. He was from Oxford where my husband's grandparents had lived so there was an instant recognition. He had been living in the area for 2 years and could speak a little of the language and made us feel very confident that we too could settle in this part of Spain. He answered all our questions and we never felt pressured by him to buy. We left him some hours later having reserved a 2 bedroom property and with a list of places to go and see and restaurants etc to try in the area which he thought we would like. He also told us to go and introduce ourselves to Pedro the local hotel owner which was easier said than done as we did not speak any Spanish. However, we went to the bar in the hotel and sure enough there was Pedro. It was this day that we discovered speaking the language is not the most difficult part about living in another country being at ease with the people is. Having said the word Ian and pointed in the general direction of the building site Pedro sat us down and brought over coffees. He took to us immediately and we all sat in relative silence with our coffees exchanging the odd smile and nodding in approval at each other, him muttering the word Ian over and over. His children arrived back from school with his wife and then the conversation started as we discovered that kids do not find language a barrier and in no time we had them sitting on our knees and Ampara their mother was bringing little tapas for us to try and pointing at posters on the wall of local events we should go to. By the time we left we felt very loved and very at ease in our new country and we had experienced the Spanish as they truly are generous and loving people who when they take to you, take to you for life. We also learned that it is not what you know in Spain but who you know and the one word Ian had opened a door to a lifelong friendship with the Guillermo family.

FALLING IN LOVE

Very quickly we came to love the area, the beach with its backdrop of mountains, the open countryside with only a few little farmsteads dotted here and there and the vast expanses of olive groves. Above all we came to love and respect the lovely people who from day one took us to their hearts and treated us like locals. It still never fails to amaze me when we go back to the area for holidays that the locals think we are one of them and have to be reminded that we are foreign, to which they always say no you are Spanish now you have been here so long.

ON THE MOVE

While our house was being built we used to go up daily to see what stage the roof was at and if the windows had been installed. It was during one of these site visits that we met up with Ian again. He asked if we would like to work for the estate agent part time. This arrangement suited us well as it gave us time to get around and find places and generally get used to our new country. With the offer of a part time job we made the decision to relocate to Spain before our house was built. We asked around the local area for a long term rental and having failed miserably to find anything which did not have an indigenous population of chickens living in the kitchen we resorted to the Spanish property magazines again and found a tiny ad for a property to let in the area. The property was basic but clean and had everything we needed. The accommodation sorted we headed home and packed all the personal items and the puppy. We bought a van from a very helpful man who said that if we brought it back in good condition within 6 months he would put it on the forecourt of his garage and sell it for us which seemed like a deal we could not refuse. We rented out our property in UK and left in the van with the Dalmatian puppy in July of the same year we had first started our search in Spain. We traveled for 4 days down through France and over the border into Spain. Arriving a bit hot and definitely very antisocial on the hygiene front but we had made it. Our first weeks were spent sorting out the domestic necessities a kettle, a clothes drying rack etc. During this time I started to learn Spanish out of necessity rather than design. I knew the word for a washing machine before I knew the days of the week. However, it started me on the learning curve and having a 4 month old puppy to take care of meant getting up early quite a lot so I would spend the first hour of the day with my Spanish books learning groups of words which I thought I might need. My husband got a cold our first winter there so I learned all the words for cough, sore throat, headache then we bought a car so I learned engine, wheel, speed, fuel consumption and that is how I learned Spanish. I used to stand at the back of the queue and just listen to the women buying their shopping or posting their letters. I quickly learned that asking a Spaniard a question is not an inconvenience or imposition it is a compliment that you would consider them worthy of the asking so when in doubt I asked a Spaniard for the correct word or how to say this or that.

GETTING TO KNOW THE AREA

Being an outdoor type, my husband spent his first few weeks climbing the local mountains and taking his bike out on the never ending empty miles of curving roads. He would come back with a camera full of pictures of eagles, waterfalls, rice paddies, pine forests and all sorts of things you never expect to see in Spain. His forays served us well and in no time he knew the area like the locals.

FALLING OUT OF LOVE

We started work for the estate agents and had several happy years working with Ian and showing people around the area we had come to love. Many of them bought houses there and settled or came for long holidays. Sadly in time, the building took over and everywhere you turned there was another area of houses in construction. The small farmsteads were bought and flattened to make way for another urbanization and the scenery started to change. Sadly, we began to feel that the area was not what we wanted any longer.

NEW PASTURES

By coincidence, one day the owner of the estate agency came to see us and said that he was setting up a new arm of the business in the Costa de la Luz. He wondered if we would be interested in going along there and being his sales team. Not even knowing where the Costa de la Luz was we said that we would take a week out and have a look.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

With the aid of a Spanish national map we soon discovered that the Costa de la Luz encompasses everything from Tarifa in the South to Cadiz and Jerez in and on upwards to Huelva and eventually the Portugese border. All fired up with a new sense of adventure we headed off to the Costa de la Luz. Again we instantly fell in love with the area, the beautiful beaches, the pine trees, the combination of wild unspoilt countryside and beach against the sophisticated cities all mixed to give the Costa de la Luz everything you could every wish for. It seemed that we had gone full circle and before long we were back out doing two shifts a day to find a new home. We were however, wiser now and knew what to look for to avoid the experience of Carmen's car a second time! We found a small agent who lived and worked locally and in conversation found that he knew most of the local builders and developers. We told him the type of property we wanted to see and he phoned us that afternoon and said I have 6 properties which might suit you. From the first to the last they were all suitable and exactly what we had asked for. We choose a house off plan in Chiclana de la Frontera but as it would not be finished for some 9 months we were on the rental hunt again. We visited a few local agents who seemed to be more interested in their manicure than helping us. However, we did find a company who offered us a house. The house during a quick 15 minute viewing seemed ideal. That night in bed I kept saying to my husband "where is that cold draft coming from"? Must be coming under the door he said. It wasnÂ´t coming under the door, it was coming through the wall and I mean literally through the wall. There was a gap the size of your hand to the right of the bedroom window tucked behind the curtains where the wall had just fallen out. Back to the agent we went to point out that the house was in a bad state and it had obviously been painted in order to conceal the problems. Having been our biggest friends in the world when we went in to rent, they now barely spoke and just gave us the "what do you want us to do" hands in the air treatment. During the coming months I spend each morning sweeping up bits of the house which had fallen off during the night. The washing machine decided to start electrocuting us when we touched the metal exterior and the gas boiler stopped working. Again we complained to the agents but they did not want to know. Eventually we paid to have the boiler fixed and the engineer said we were lucky it had not blown up as it was ancient and he doubted it had ever been serviced. It was a salutary lesson that not all agents are reputable and that you have to be careful who you use. The horros of the rental soon faded in our memories and we settled into our new house in Chiclana de la Frontera and have been here ever since. Our love of this unspoilt area grew month by month and secure in the knowledge that most of the land here is protected and will never be built on we are confident that the over building which drove us out of our original place of choice will not happen here. In the past 8 years Spain has learned many things and one of them is to control the building. The government brought in new laws to keep new building back from the beach areas and restrict all new building to low rise. They now limit the number of planning permissions granted in any given area and set up a task force to deal with illegally built properties. Many have now been demolished or lost land from their perimeters which was not theirs in the first place. Construction has become more regimented as in the UK with site inspectors making sure that builders build what is on the plan and town planners ensuring that areas remain green and healthy.

LEAVING THE NEST AND SPREADING OUR WINGS

Eventually, the time came for us to spread our wings and set up our own estate agency. With the help of many Spanish friends and business people we have become a very successful and well known estate, rental and holiday let agent on the Costa de la Luz. Our business was founded on a few simple ethics our clients are the most important part of our business and we will do all we can to give them a good experience of Spain.

FINALLY SETTLED - FOR NOW!

It is not hard to have a good experience of this area as the coast is so varied. From the beautiful and wild beaches of Tarifa in the south to the stunning city of Cadiz in the north and on upwards towards Seville to the famous sherry city of Jerez. The people are equally as charming and friendly as they were in Murcia but there is a wider choice of properties here and it is a greener area with more trees, natural parks and rivers. My husband still enjoys his hill walking and biking and there is a vast array of places for him to get away from it all in the beautiful Alcornocales Natural Park or the mountains of the Grazalemas. We are near to the Doñana National Park and close enough to have day trips to Morrison's in Gibraltar for the odd packet of bisto or malted fruit loaf. There are some things you just never forget! We still find new things to do and see and although we have a lot less time to enjoy them they will be there when we eventually retire. At the moment I would not want to live anywhere else, but who knows maybe my husband has other ideas!