Introducing Spain

Somebody recently asked me what I thought of a program which talks about property matters in Spain.

As most of you know I dont pay much attention to what other people say as I have been giving property advice on Spain for the past fifty years.

I first visited Spain back in the old Franco days when there were shootings in the streets. I even spent a large part of my teenage years living in a small hotel just off the Ramblas in Barcelona.

I even wrote a book about those times, which is available to buy from Amazon: (The Last Troubadour in Spain: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OMZZAPO), and I wrote a book of Spanish poetry, which I foolishly tried to get published in Spain. I was sixteen at the time, and as a result was visited by the secret police. That book of poetry, translated back into English is also available on Amazon (Poet in Spain: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0831N5Z23).

One other thing. I have travelled and lived in every corner of Spain, from Vigo to Valencia and from Tarifa to Irun.

I have owned real estate in Spain since the seventies until now and have correctly forecast every crash and every boom since the seventies. I’ve even acquired property by adverse possession in Spain, and the method is the exact opposite to the way you do it in the UK. I have also taken advantage of Government re-settlement deals. The one I liked best was taking on and renovating houses in the old jewish quarter of Cordoba.

But where are we now?

There are several specific areas of Spain. To pretend Spain is one country is absurd. I remember fifty years ago travelling from Barcelona to Madrid on the country’s most famous and modern train called Talgo. And when I got to Madrid I went out for a meal, and to get back into my home I had to stand in the street and clap for the man who kept the keys. But on the way the train stopped at Zaragosa and I was keen to ask whereabouts we were. Are we still in Catalonia, or…? However, I knew that if I asked where I was that would be regarded as an insult, How would you not know which area you were in? Outrage! So I never did ask. Spain is a country of parochial foreigners.

Another example of the attitudes. I was hassled in a restaurant in San Sebastian, and the police were called. The waiter, who was trying to overcharge me, became very offensive, so I asked him, as a good citizen of San Sebastián, why he was speaking Spanish instead of Basque.

The two policeman walked away, refusing to listen to what was going on. The waiter became very agitated, and the whole episode was most amusing to me, but it shows just how difficult being Spanish can be.

The point is that living north of the Picos, facing the Bay of Biscay (Viscaya), is totally different from living in Madrid. The Moors may have penetrated as far north as Tours in France, but they didn’t conquer Cantabria or Galicia.

I think everyone is aware that Catalonia is a far older state than Spain, and the country sits very uncomfortably in the Spanish state.

I once lived just outside Valencia where they still speak what they like to call Valencian, which is an abomination of Spanish (I’ll be lynched for saying that). And while I’m talking about that part of Spain, do remember that Julie, my partner, was one of four people who started that massive flea-market at Jalon one sunday back in the eighties.

Estremadura used to be quite literately the end of the world. Back in the sixties when I wandered around that devastated area with Annabel, my wife, the whole area was scattered with towns and villages which were in almost complete ruins. I couldn’t understand the language there either.

But, of course, you can be anywhere in what is generally regarded as Spain, but that doesn’t mean that where you live is similar to anywhere else in Spain. As an honorary Spaniard my real home is south of Jerez in the province of Cadiz where the last vestiges of what old timers like me treasure of what we like to call the real Spain still linger on.

Last year I spent some time there wandering around as I usually do, visiting old bodegas that I remember from forty years or more ago. I even went back with my daughter, and we spent some time wondering whether I can move back there. We also visited old friends in the bodegas of Jerez, and topped up on some of my favourite wines.

If you dont mind, I may devote the next few blogs to my wanderings around this part of Spain to show you what’s there, and also give you a few references to the types and prices of homes in that part of the world.

I have also written a book just about this part of Spain. You could say it is a modern version of that wonderful ancient book South of Granada by Gerald Brenan. Yes, I know. That’s going back a bit.

And for those of you who were outraged by what I said about Valencian, I will try and make up for that remark next week. After all, I did spend many happy years living in that part of the world.

Here are the related books I have quoted. All available from Amazon. I give the UK site address, but the dot com (US) address will do, just change .co.uk to .com

The Last Troubadour in Spain: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OMZZAPO

Travelling the Back Roads of Spain: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DH8JVTBP

Poet in Spain: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0831N5Z23

The Ultimate Real Estate Guide: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07D3ZW8D2

absolute waffle