Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 2
I was ironing. My mobile was on the kitchen island, barely 1 metre from my hand as it had been for much of the previous few weeks. I was constantly checking to see if any new WhatsApp messages had come through from Claire at Voltage TV, but in vain.
Eventually, I could bear it no longer and sent a message to Claire to see if there was an update. The reply came swiftly to inform us that the BBC had green-lit the project the week before, and it was to be filmed in Moclín! This was only a couple of weeks after the January visit, but it felt like months. During those weeks, we had had to provide estimates for restoration costs, likely planning constraints, the possibility of mustering teams of builders and everything in between.
We were selling the property in the square so an offer was made and accepted and the process started for the sales/purchase contract between the family who owned the property and a buyer from the UK who was making the purchase on behalf of Voltage TV and the BBC. All quite surreal.
At this stage, it makes sense to explain why this project became so important for us, and how much it meant to have the support of both the town hall and our friends and neighbours in the village.
There was a time when the population of Moclín stood at around 1,500 inhabitants. Even around 100 years ago, there were 1,000 people living here, when the physical size of the village, in terms of the number of buildings, was probably half of what it is now. When doing some research into the history of the village, it was fascinating to see photos from around 1940 when the village was far smaller and several generations of the same family all lived under the same roof. To get an insight into what village life in this area was like in the early 1960s, it’s worth reading Penelope Chetwode’s account of her horse-ride across Andalucia; she started her journey from the Duke of Wellington’s estate in nearby Íllora and passed through Moclín on her way to Cazorla.
Over the decades since Penelope’s journey, young people have had to leave their villages in search of employment in the cities, and there have been few people arriving to replace them. As older generations die and young people leave, who wants to come and take over the properties left behind? Unless you are involved in agriculture or construction, there is little in these rural municipalities on offer. It is shocking to realise that the population of Moclín now stands at just over 200 inhabitants.
National, regional and local governments have been aware of this problem for some time, and steps are being taken. It is sobering to think that, in 2022, our own mayor was clear that, within another generation, villages like Moclín could cease to exist. Tourism has a vital role to play in this regeneration, and it is for this reason that Andrew and I and, indeed, the local people can see the huge opportunities that this BBC project could bring. That was always a concern for us, as we embarked on this TV project: would the village be happy that a film crew was to spend the summer here filming the place with a view to drawing a huge amount of attention?
When we knew that the programme would be filmed in Moclín, we organised a presentation in the local bar to show an episode of the Tuscany series and explain a little about what was going to happen and what it meant. The response from everyone was overwhelmingly positive, not least because a prominent house in the village square that had been empty for 35 years was about to get a huge makeover.
Our presentation to the village in the local Bar
One of the challenges we have had has been to explain the possible impact on the area of a TV series like ‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’. The series averages 3 - 4 million viewers a week on terrestrial TV. It is then available on iPlayer, and the programme is available in other countries, including the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. With press coverage, TV and radio interviews, we estimate that the overall potential reach in the UK is an audience of viewers, readers and listeners of some 40 million people. We know from the Tuscany series that properties sell as a result of the programme: many houses were sold in the area following transmission of the programme, and Rightmove saw a 255% increase in enquiries for the area. Visitors still arrive daily in the villages in both Sicily and Tuscany looking for Casa Alamanda. So, although we have some knowledge of what has happened over the past two years, we can’t fully anticipate the impact that the programme will have on Moclín and Granada Province as a whole. However, we can prepare ourselves for as many eventualities as possible, and this is what we have been doing, and continue to do.
The excitement of learning that Voltage TV, Alan Carr and Amanda Holden would be descending on our beautiful little village for the entire summer was beyond description, and we hoped that we were both capable of managing the expectations of both the crew and village as we set out on a new adventure.
This is part two in our 10-part series of blog posts about our Summer with Alan and Amanda. You can read Part 1 here. Please subscribe if you’d like to be kept up to date with future posts.
‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’ is being shown on BBC One from 24th January 2025 and will be available on iPlayer.
For the programme, Amanda and Alan bought their property through our estate agency business, Granada Village & Country and we were instrumental in putting together the building teams who completed the renovation of the property.
The property will be available for sale through Granada Village & Country, and featured on Rightmove, at the end of the series.
Our other businesses as featured on the programme:
Casa Higueras Bed & Breakfast
Esperanza 9
Granada Cultural Holidays
With enormous thanks to Amanda, Alan and the entire team at Voltage TV for choosing Moclín and for your enthusiasm, love and consideration throughout the filming of the series. We loved having you all here!
