Update on our purpose of this journey – house hunting

crazy Gaudi-style architecture in Algar:

After 2/3 of our planned 3 months of travelling through Spain to find a suitable place to rent, a house or finca, we have to come clean.

It ain’t happening just yet. We have spent time interviewing all persons that we could to extract information about prices and locations and mistakes and regrets and successes. There are very few properties to rent, most are for sale but we are not prepared to take that step yet.

We have seen 6 places by now, one way too expensive and too big for our needs but it was on our way and we met this wildlife photographer who had a falconry on his land. Another near Arcos was a small holding in the countryside with all sorts of fruit trees, olive trees enough to supply a year’s olive oil for a family and a vegetable garden. The house is new and modern, with a fire place and 3 bedrooms. The neighbours are Germans, English and Dutch. The owner is a loveable thin gentleman farmer with 4 languages at this disposal: Spanish, German, Italian and French, just not English. The price for rent, and or buy is reasonable. So what is wrong with it?

Not much. It just has no character, no views, and its dark inside due to the small windows. Although around this area of Arcos would be ideal for us, but others have been snapping up properties before us. We have seen two properties around El Bosque, a quaint village near the Sierra de Grazalema National Park (by the way Grazalema is the town with the most rain in Spain!!!).

One was not more than a glorified garden shed with little to recommend for itself other than the lovely setting and the wild garden. The other was a really lovely house – but no garden. Instead it had next door a triangular plot that can be purchased for €30,000 which is unbelievable as you can buy 1 ha of land for €6,000.

Since Algar we have seen another three properties. One of these is near Almonte. It has a nice big house, which is unfortunately is not completed and 5 ha of neglected olive trees. It tickles our fancy as we can see ourselves getting those olive trees back into shape. But the price is too high.

So we have to get up and go elsewhere to try again. But first we go on holidays to the sandy beaches of Spain and Portugal before going on the long journey home to Ireland. Hopefully not for long, as we have other travel plans before settling down in Spain.

Bugs and plants and booze….

 

 

8.05 – 14.05.17 It’s all bull – Algar – Cadiz province

unusual tapas (sweets)  and a basketful of olives at a roundabout:

Moving further west, we found a lovely small town in Cadiz province, near Arcos, which is not far from Ronda. But we like it peaceful and calm, so Algar was just right. Algar is a sleepy town, which you could comfortably walk all the way around in 30 minutes. Or cross, up and down small streets, in 10 minutes. But the views are again breath-taking. Really, Spain is spoiled with scenery, this area has a large ‘embalse’, Embalse de Gualalcacin, a man-made reservoir nearby which adds to it attraction; the waters being turquoise, even on a rainy day. It has also green hills and valleys, which makes it look like Ireland in sunshine.

 

Cadiz province is blessed with fertile, undulating land which is used for all types of agriculture:

From tillage, potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers, pasture, goats, sheep to bull breeding. Yes, we came across a ranch that has 400 cows to breed the TORO BRAVOS, the bulls used in bull fights. Nigel of course had to get up close and a security guy drove out in his jeep to see who we were nosing about. But he was a very nice man that explained everything to us and drove us into the place. We even met the owner and his assistant on their very beautiful horses. Passing earlier we saw them rounding up the 3-year old bulls on their horses. These bulls are exercised daily and fed grain to make them strong and muscular. One bull can sell for up to €18,000 in Madrid’s bull ring!

(photos: bull breading ranch)

Ronda – Bull ring

In beautiful Ronda I wanted to see finally a bull ring from the inside. There is something fascinating about the bull fighting thing. It’s probably because it is dangerous, bloody and gruesome, even violent and brutal. It is an intrinsic Spanish phenomenon, a part of Spain just like Paella and Flamenco, so I wanted to see about the why and how.

Being bitterly disappointed in Pamplona (well, it is famous for the running of the bulls in July) and in every other town on our way (nearly every town has its own bull ring, but nearly all of them are closed and not in use anymore), we could finally indulge our curiosity.

Ronda’s bull ring is one of the oldest and unique in that it features covered seating. It is impressive in its architecture and facilities, as it also incorporates a riding school and stables. So it is not all blood and gore, but always ends that way….

There is a museum housed also that shows some artefacts of the life of a torero and other country sports and the military.

 

But this is all I want to know and see about the demise of a beautiful animal like a bull, bred and reared in the countryside pastures, to end as a piece of bloody meat at the admittedly old age of 3 or 4 years (as beef usually ends up being killed at 18-36 months of age).