Sunset in Spain by Erna Walraven

Author:Erna Walraven
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Affirm Press
Published: 2022-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

A Renovator’s Dream

To keep things on an equal playing field, we need a quote from a builder in San Juan as well. This will help us decide in favour of one charming stone cottage over another. Council Jesus organises a builder to give us a quote to do up the river cottage. We’re to meet him in San Juan. We arrive early and do what every Spaniard would do in this situation – go to a bar to pass the time. We end up talking to some patrons and we tell them we’re here to see a house that’s for sale. A thickset man with a ruddy face and a dicky leg tells us he knows the best house in San Juan to buy.

‘I used to spend a lot of time there when I was a kid. I love that old house.’

A few others around the bar pipe in with their comments. They’re all talking at once about what houses are for sale in the village.

Ruddy Face turns to me again and adds: ‘Natural stone floors. We used to kill and gut the pigs on that floor.’

He seems to think that makes it more attractive. I nod appreciatively. As it turns out it’s the house we’ve come to look at, the river cottage.

Council Jesus finds us in the bar and gives us the keys. We’re trusted with the keys and can go explore by ourselves until the builder arrives. We leave the car at the bar and walk to the house. As we pass the church we see massive bird nests on three corners of the bell tower. A stork arrives as we’re walking by, his mate already at the nest. As he lands, both birds loudly clack their bills in greeting. We stand and watch them in awe as they display their affection for each other. Any visitor to this part of the country will inevitably see and hear the common stork, cigüeña in Spanish. They spend the winter in North Africa and wing it to the Iberian Peninsula to make babies. These birds are such an interest in the landscape. They are loyal to both their mate and the nest site, returning each year to find the same partner in the same spot. Arriving in the early spring, they perform impressive courtship rituals and can be spotted everywhere, from chimneys to churches and telegraph poles. Some church bell towers have a sizeable nest on all four corners.

Alex fiddles with the lock for a while but finally the door springs open and stale air greets us. Paco the builder arrives a couple of minutes after us in the obligatory furgoneta, one of those Spanish box-like vans all the tradies drive. He’s only ten minutes late, very acceptable by Spanish standards. Paco has a respectable moustache and is probably in his early sixties, but the spark in his eye suggests a younger age. His weathered face looks as if he’s constantly on the verge of telling a joke and he swears quite freely.

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