Anyone who has ever worked for or in TV will know that schedules can be killing. Anyone who has ever bought and restored a property in Spain will know that schedules are not so easy to control. We have bought and restored two properties in Moclín and we have been very fortunate to live in such a progressive area where the ayuntamiento (town hall) actually do want to help and do actively support initiatives that are of benefit to the municipality. I would like to think that was the main reason I was asked to become a councillor for Tourism and Heritage; we bought fresh ideas and we are both very motivated when it comes to promoting this gorgeous corner of Andalucia.

‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’ got filmed in the following way: the crew arrived at the end of April to set everything up ready for the arrival of Amanda and Alan. The restoration of the property needed to start at the very beginning of May, so all the legal and contractual stuff needed to have been finalised before then so that whoever was working on the project was all set to go. This might all seem straightforward, but good builders in Andalucia are like gold-dust and are often booked up on projects for months in advance. Planning law was also in the process of changing in the village, since the village is now a conservation area. When we restored our two houses, we were granted planning permission within 2 or 3 weeks, which is speedy by any standards. Now, however, if a property falls within the conservation radius of the 13th Century castle, most planning applications have to go to Cultura in the Junta de Andalucia where it can take at least 30 days to be granted permission. The sale of the property was also slightly complex, in that there were 12 beneficiaries in the will under which the property was bequeathed, and the property had been empty for 35 years. Documents were sketchy, and our initial date with the Notary to complete the sale had to be postponed as one document was missing. Any delays in the run up to the start of filming were fraught, as they could have impacted on the whole schedule. We couldn’t finalise all the details for the build until the sale was completed.

We had meetings with teams of builders, some of whom made it clear from the outset that they couldn’t commit to a start date of the beginning of May, and they certainly couldn’t commit to completing the project in 3 months. We are extraordinarily fortunate that we have built good relationships with many builders in the municipality, and our first choice of builders, the local Suárez Brothers, Antonio and José Miguel, came up with the goods after a little encouragement. Initially, Antonio was of the same mind as everyone else: he had a queue of other projects; he couldn’t commit to a May 1st start date and he didn’t know if he had enough labourers to complete the work in the allotted time. The day after our first meeting, however, Antonio called to say he could do it, with a bit of judicial shuffling. We also had a second team of builders in the pipeline, should we have needed to send in the cavalry.

Our amazing architect, Paloma, pulled out the stops to work around and with the new planning laws and, in conjunction with the town hall, we managed to get the necessary permissions in order to start work on the house.

The house was certainly the biggest project undertaken by Amanda and Alan, in comparison to the two in Italy. The house in Moclín is a beautiful three-storey town house of elegant proportions located right on the main square. Having sat empty for 35 years, it was in a poor condition in parts; there was a casita at the back of the house that used to be a stable, and this was all but a ruin after years of neglect. The roof of the main house was also in a poor state and needed to be replaced. However, the proportions were all there and there were some gorgeous original tiles on the floors, and many original interior doors. The views from the top floor extend over rooftops towards the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It must have been a lovely house when it bustled with activity decades ago; it was once the village general store and the owners used to make the little figures for the church Nativity scene at Christmas. Some of our friends and neighbours still remember the house from when they were children.

There was a tangible sense of excitement as the date neared for the start of filming, not least because new life was to be breathed into this prominent house. Alan and Amanda, as celebrities, meant very little to our neighbours, although many people have heard of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. In some ways, that was a blessing, as the temptation to elbow a way into every scene being filmed was avoided, and the locals tended to sit by and watch with fascination rather than interfere.

Critics on social media scoff that A & A don’t do any of the work on these restoration projects. Having worked with the team, we can say categorically that they have a final say on almost every aspect of the build and do not mind getting their hands dirty.

The first block of filming took place towards the end of April, and this is when Alan and Amanda arrived in the village, got to meet local people and saw the house to assess all the work that needed to be done.

The first weekend of filming coincided with a cycle race in the village, so the place was buzzing! Andrew and I were to be filmed with Alan and Amanda to cement the theme that they were going to restore the house as a Bed & Breakfast and we were the local competitor. Marco, our mayor, was also to be introduced. We had let the village know what was going to happen, and they were all invited to pop along to the bar to have a drink. Little did we know that we’d have to do a degree of crowd control as filming in the square started. It is strange that, when a TV or film crew arrive, many people lose all sense of decorum and will do anything to appear on camera. A couple of young cyclists in lycra outfits that left little to the imagination decided that it might look good if they did wheelies behind the table in front of the bar where we were being filmed. We were under strict instructions to request that no photos should be taken and shared on social media, but try convincing people who are hell-bent on having selfies taken with anyone famous.

First day of filming with Alan and Amanda. With the busy bar behind!

At this point I should explain why film and TV production teams don’t necessarily want locations revealed during filming. It is not through some diva-esque desire to remain anonymous; it is to keep to a schedule without delays. When Alan and Amanda arrived at Granada Airport for their very first filming block, it was tipping down with rain and the flight on which they arrived had come from Gatwick; most of the passengers from the UK, therefore, knew who the presenters were. As the crew tried to film their arrival, other passengers decided they wanted to try and get selfies and I would add that A & A are always very accommodating. That said, when they are filming, they are working, and they have a handful of minutes in which to film, get it right and move on to the next shot. A 10 minute delay while someone grabs a selfie has a knock-on effect that is difficult to make up. If locations are revealed, there exists a high probability that unwelcome photographers will pitch up during the rest of the shoot making a general nuisance of themselves. The presenters have a job to do, and the producers also have a job to do, and neither of them have the time for extraneous delays, hard as that may sometimes seem.

As far as we were concerned, we just wanted to make sure that filming in Moclín was as pleasant and as memorable as possible for everyone involved.