July? What happened to June? And May...?
Why is time running away so fast? Blink, and we realise that we have not written a blog post in an age, and yet so much continues to happen. We think that, at the moment, time seems to be a very confused entity and we may as well forget about 2020; it is as if 2019 was yesterday, and 2022 is tomorrow. Frightening…
I suppose the most positive news has to be that Andrew and I are now both members of the double-vax club. Actually, there is no club, but suffice to say that we have both received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine and this comes with some relief. I don’t think either of us believe that any vaccination is an assurance of 100% protection, but we have always believed that the combatting of this pandemic comes with civic and community responsibility. Living in a small, vulnerable population, we have always been conscious that an illness could bring about the untimely death of too many people here. In our village, certainly, we have felt that everyone has been looking after everyone else. In total, we think there have only been two confirmed cases in our village - more in the wider municipality - but it was been very well controlled here and any new infections were met with swift perimeter closures. It was quite reassuring to feel that there was a plan, and that most people were quite happy to adhere to any restrictions for the safety of others.
There is a tangible sense that life is gradually returning to normal in Moclín. People, including visitors, are still very sensitive to the wearing of masks and exercising a degree of social distancing. It helps that we are now in the vast open plains of high summer, bathed in sunshine, and life is spent outdoors as much as possible, It is easy to forget that the past 16 months have been so traumatic when you can sit on a terrace outside a bar, with an ice-cold beer, a tapa, gazing out at mountains and fathomless blue skies.
My nephew Charlie and his girlfriend Sarah came and paid us a visit this past weekend, after visiting family in the UK. Charlie works in Kosovo and Sarah lives and works in Vienna, and the best way to get back to Vienna from the UK meant a 10 day holiday in Spain (hardships!). I didn’t think it would mean so much to have a visit from family, but it was much-needed and when the couple left to spend the rest of this week on the beaches near Málaga, we missed them a great deal. It made us both yearn for the company of my own children. It is hard to accept that I have still not met my gorgeous granddaughter, Georgie, and although I love seeing daily photographs, it is even harder to accept that so many other friends and family members have been able to spend time with Georgie and yet we haven’t. It’s rather like looking at another life going on from behind a screen of impenetrable glass. Summer might be here, and we might be living in an idyllic part of the world, but we do miss our family and friends enormously.
Charlie and Sarah discovering the caves
To tackle the ongoing sense of emotional deprivation, we need projects! To that end, we have just signed the contract on the purchase of a new house. It is a small house; a garage, in fact, so don’t get too excited. However, we have had our eyes on this little place for a while, and as there seems to be demand for self-catering holiday properties, we thought this would be the ideal opportunity to add a further opportunity for income generation. We have to earn something to keep us in the manner to which we have become accustomed, and recoup all the money that we have lost through lack of tourism since we opened Casa Higueras. You may recall that the official opening date for our Bed & Breakfast was on 1st April 2020 and that didn’t quite happen! I was fortunate enough to inherit some funds from my mother and these funds were sitting in a UK bank account doing absolutely nothing, so it makes sense for us to try and get another property to work for us.
Our plan for this little house is to create a two bedroom home with a patio, a couple of roof terraces and a small plunge pool. We have the architect coming over to make a start at the end of this month, and it should be a fairly straightforward reformation. Ideally, we would love the house to be ready for guests next year, so follow progress through this blog and via Instagram as and when we start work.
Next week will be an exciting one for us. We actually have guests coming over for our ‘Flamenco: Dance, Music and History’ Cultural and Creative course and we are both so delighted to be in a position to run these courses this year. Last year was decimated, and the first half of this year was a period of juggling and shifting dates. We ran our first course in June, a long-weekend of Botanical Watercolour Painting with guests from Switzerland and Portugal. The guests had booked way back in 2019 and were desperate to get away on an escape to the rural beauty of Andalucia. The weekend was fabulous. It was relaxed, creative, educative and all rather emotional. Over the course of the four days, I am not sure a group of people could have bonded any more strongly than we did. There is no doubt that taking part in a cultural or creative activity for a week, with other people, can have a hugely positive effect, and being in such a beautiful part of Spain does tend to weave in a bit of magic.
“Casa Higueras really is a little corner of heaven. Tucked away in Moclin - a pretty village 40 minutes drive from Granada - this gorgeous home is complimented by breath-taking views of mountains & valleys. Owners Ian & Andrew - & Alfie the terrier with attitude - were a joy - I felt right at home from the minute I arrived. How I stumbled across this gem was through booking one of the cultural courses Ian & Andrew put on throughout the year - namely the all-inclusive botanical watercolour painting or flamenco classes. I highly recommend this experience - it is special. You get to meet artists who are top of their game & happy to share their talents. Or you can simply book a few days here walking in the area, there is much to choose from. Ian and Andrew’s cheerful hospitality is second to none - the food is all lovingly homemade & the accommodation leaves nothing wanting - apart from wanting to rush back for more!”
There are still places on all of our remaining courses for 2021 (and we have just added dates for 2022), and we’d love to invite you all to come and take part. Rural tourism is vitally important for small communities across Andalucia. Taking a holiday in Spain is not just about herding together with millions of other people on the coast. Inland Spain is stunningly beautiful and has so much for everyone, regardless of what you might be looking for. Villages here are constantly in danger of disappearing due to rural depopulation, and inward investment through property purchase and tourism can make all the difference between survival and terminal decline. We are doing what we can, in our own very small way, to try and boost sustainable travel here and we are honoured to have been asked to help form a Tourism Association to co-ordinate efforts to boost the sector. I even managed to appear in one of the village promotional videos welcoming back visits to the area!
That is a quick summary of our most recent activities, but life never stands still here. If you are looking to escape from the madness that the world has found itself in, then do think about coming to see us here in Moclín.
