Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 4
What were our objectives and why did we get involved in working with Voltage TV and the BBC on ‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’?
One of the main themes of the programme is the highlighting of problems surrounding rural depopulation. The programme is not just about the restoration of a village house. It explores the culture of the area, the history, the landscapes, the people and traditions and it was for these reasons that we felt so connected to the series. The work we do here, through our various businesses, is all about supporting the local economy and providing opportunities for local people.
We both felt that if we were able to show, through the programme, the beauty of Granada Province and Moclín itself, we would be able to turn this huge opportunity into something sustainable and fruitful. At the end of the day, the production team was here to make a popular TV programme that will generate good viewing figures. What we, collectively and ultimately, do with the opportunity is up to us. At the end of filming, the crew will all depart and we wait for the programme to be broadcast and then grab everything we can with both hands. However, that comes with some responsibility. It would be irresponsible to just sell as many properties as possible to people who want a holiday home in which they’ll spend two weeks of the year, leaving it empty for the remaining 50 weeks. What we would sooner do is sell the part-built hotel on the edge of the village to an investor who will create something special - a destination restaurant with beautiful rooms where guests will feel happy to spend a week or more enjoying everything that this region has to offer. This type of investment creates jobs: waiters, cleaners, bar-staff, cooks and you instantly breathe new life into the village.
Moclín Village
We have a 290 acre estate with large cortijo for sale in a stunning location, and through the publicity that we hope to generate from the programme, we would love to be able to find the right buyer for this property. The house would make a superb country house hotel or equestrian centre, and then there is the opportunity to recover some of the purchase costs by selling off the 6,000 olive trees and the 14th Century watchtower to people who will invest their own passions and energies in the preservation of these corners of the municipality. The watchtower, an integral and important part of the history of the area would be restored and maintained; the olive trees would remain productive and provide additional income for an established farmer and the hotel would create more employment opportunities, possibly even encouraging young people to move here.
These ideas may seem simplistic, but to survive, villages like Moclín need inward investment. We all do our best to promote this amazing area to visitors both from within Spain and beyond, but we are a small voice amongst a sea of other voices across Spain. There is a shift in tourism dynamics, with the capping of tourism licenses in some cities in order to retain some sense of equilibrium. For some time, central government has explored initiatives to bring visitors inland, away from the popular Costas. Spain has 88 million visitors every year, but the majority of these visitors flock to the coast, and yet there is so much to discover in the vast interior. I often use Mallorca as an example of how the fortunes of an area can be turned with judicious planning. Mallorca has always been a fashionable destination, attracting the likes of Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn and Liza Minelli in the 1950s but in the 70s this reputation became slightly overshadowed by mass tourism and the popularity of the party centres of Magaluf and Palma Nova. In the 80s and 90s, tourism exploded on the island and brought investment. Agroturismo, the creation of boutique hotels and apartments in old farmhouses, drove the move inland and a balance was re-established.
Taking the blueprint of Mallorca’s success and trying to transpose it to a landmass as large as mainland Spain is a different matter. Articles in the travel press expounding on the beauties of inland Spain go someway towards changing perceptions, but we are in a world driven by social media and user-generated content; the printed page no longer has the impact that it once did. A popular TV programme that gets broadcast around the world is a different prospect. We are under no illusion that, even with the type of exposure we anticipate, we only have a small window of opportunity. The BBC may commission a 4th series of the programme, in which case the focus will suddenly shift to the new destination. There will be a steady stream of interest remaining, driven by on-demand TV, but society these days is constantly thirsty for something new.
Now that the programme is being broadcast, we need to be prepared to maximise every opportunity that arises. We have no idea what the impact will be, but we have been told to expect a deluge of interest and we need to make sure that that interest is converted into something sustainable that lives on long after the TV viewers’ interest is diverted elsewhere.
This blog post was originally written towards the end of 2024. The first episode of ‘Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Job’ was broadcast on 24th January and we have already seen a huge surge in interest in the area. As of today’s date, our blog post has seen over 13,000 visitors over the past 30 days. We have had new bookings every day for our two properties and this looks set to continue. We will write a further blog post once the programme comes to an end on BBC One on 14th March, and try to summarise the response.
You can read earlier posts in this series by clicking on the links below:
Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 1
Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 2
Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 3
Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 5
Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 6
Our Summer with Alan and Amanda 7
Follow us on Instagram:
Andrew @awatsonone
Ian @ianrutter
Casa Higueras @casahiguerasmoclin
Esperanza 9 @calleesperanza9
Granada Village and Country @granada_villageandcountry
Granada Cultural Holidays @granadaculturalholidays
‘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!
