It is 8 years since we made the move to Spain and we can truthfully say that there has not been one single day when we have regretted that move.

Time has flown, but then I think that when you are living a full and interesting life, time does tend to gallop away. We do look back over these past 8 years and have to be proud of what we have achieved: bought and renovated two houses, and helped with a third; learned Spanish from scratch to the extent that our Spanish teacher considers us fluent; set up thriving businesses that generate enough of an income to keep our heads above water; organised a three-week art and music festival; appeared on live Spanish TV; continue to organise a programme of creative and cultural course holidays; market houses; design books; record voiceovers; paint; been a town councillor for tourism and culture. We are still not sure quite how we have ended up here, and how much we have done, but it has been such an adventure.

Very little, however, beats this past weekend’s summit!

To mark the start of the week-long celebrations of the Romería en Honor del Santísimo Cristo del Paño, a new bar and disco opened up in the village. On Saturday 28th September, to launch the bar, there was a beer competition. I got worried when Andrew started to talk about taking part. It was difficult to understand the criteria, but the rules appeared to be as straightforward as consuming a number of glasses of beer between 13:00 and 16:00 in the afternoon and the winner would be awarded a leg of jamón and a crate of beer as the first prize. What could possible go wrong?

That Saturday was another busy day for us, and I had to whizz off to show some clients a couple of houses for sale at 13:00, the time of the start of the contest. There had already been something of a rant on social media from someone who had decided that a private drinking contest was highly irreligious, in the face of one of the most important Classical religious festivals in Andalucia. That argument tends to lose strength when every garage in the village opens as a pop-up bar throughout the festival, and there are lots of people who come simply to have a beer and a good time.

Property viewings over, I returned to the village to see how Andrew was getting on. A good friend of ours, Mark, had also signed up and Andrew and Mark were planted by the bar with a handful of our other friends and neighbours. Everything seemed quite sedate. The rules were more firmly established, and special competition glasses had been purchased; each glass held just under 500 ml, but they didn’t appear to be much larger than a tubo, or a 1/3 litre. The rules were that each contestant had to pay €5 to enter. If they consumed 5 glasses of beer, they’d get the €5 back. The contest then got gritty, as the winner had to drink more beers than anyone else in the allotted time. There was some discussion as to whether or not the contest actually ended at 15:00, but no-one seemed to know for sure. Thankfully, the beers were served with the customary tapas, so at least the stomach had something other than beer being piled into it.

The first hour was spent eyeing up the competition. Nono, who is a fabulous chap and to whom we sold a house in the village, had a slight head start and he seemed to be well in control. Antonio, who we didn’t know, but who became known as ‘Red t-shirt’, came across as the one to beat as he downed one glass followed by the next. It was all quite tense!

Drinking partner Mark and Ian discussing the rules.

Christofer, one of our younger neighbours, had had an altercation with the pavement the night before so he already had the air of someone who may not run the course. Mark started off well, but we felt that he may have left the starting gate too quickly and might not make the end of the race.

After the first hour, things became rather more comical. I wished I had entered as I was downing smaller quantities of beer but at a steady pace, and was then bought a large Gin & Tonic by which time I felt invincible. The official contestants were running neck and neck and all reached the 5-glass point at roughly the same time. We were joined in the second hour by Oscar, the local baker, and he hit the ground running. I tried to have him disqualified for spilling beer on his t-shirt, but my complaints fell on deaf ears.

The expected deadline of 15:00 came and went, and after discussions with fellow competitors, it became clear that the deadline was actually 16:00. By this time, Andrew must have consumed 7 or 8 of the glasses of beer, closely pursued by the other drinkers.

As the final hour wore on, one or two people became conspicuous by their absence; even Oscar, after such a boisterous start, disappeared. There was a little disagreement at the bar, when 3 competitors, who had been sitting outside, came inside to declare themselves winners but Aure, behind the bar, is never one to have the wool pulled over his eyes. Mark was flagging and a glazed expression had come over his face, while Andrew persevered. It should be pointed out that he had said that 8 would be his limit, but one seemed to follow another and when 16:00 arrived it was declared that Andrew was the winner, having consumed a grand total of 10 glasses of competition beer: roughly 4.5 litres. He needed the loo…As far as we can recall, Antonio (he in the red t-shirt) and Nono were close runners-up.

Following his victory, Andrew took to the street outside to dance. As a consequence, he was nearly run over three times, but the sun was shining, he had an audience and several other members of the bar’s coterie joined in the fun, so who cared?

Contestants plus Aureleano, owner of Bar El Hacho, Moclin

It was a fabulous day in every way, and continued on into the evening but that is not the point. The point was that the simplest thing can very often generate the most fun. We are very lucky to be surrounded by the most wonderful, fun-loving people in the shape of our friends and neighbours. The event marked the start of a week’s run-up to the village’s huge fiesta, and there was an air of excitement and anticipation and the Spanish certainly know how to have a good time. We are aware that, this year, the party won’t be the same for everyone as earlier this year the mother of good friends of ours died and left a huge and unfillable hole in the fabric of the family’s and the village’s life. But fiestas are all about bringing together everyone in the village and celebrating everything that is good about life, as well as remembering those people who are no longer here.

Summer is now over and Autumn is appearing around the corner and we can’t say we’re not slightly relieved. This summer was hot and VERY busy with one thing and another, and it flew by! Now is the season to take stock, relax a little and assess some of the changes we have planned.

We looked forward to the weekend of Cristo del Paño and everything that it would hold. We had a huge jamón and crate of beer, so everything would be fine! We’d lift a glass to whatever the next 8 years might bring. ¡Viva Moclín! ¡Viva Cristo del Paño!