Andalusia blog

I am walking with my neighbour Teresa down Calle Ingenio in Salobreña on a warm summer evening in September. We are arriving at the end of the narrow street. On the left, just before the intersection with Calle Cristo, is a row of old houses. The houses consist of one floor only and a small attic under a pitched roof with terracotta roof tiles. The white plastered facades have double wooden front doors in the middle, and all have windows behind bars on either side. The chimneys on the houses are topped by terracotta tiles, to prevent rain from entering, giving he scene a Moorish feel.

Expat blog

I have been enjoying the beautiful province of Granada with my partner Johan since 2015. We settled in Andalusia permanently in January 2020: in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, between olive and orange groves, near the Moorish city of Granada and the fantastic coastline of the Costa Tropical! From our rustic home in the white village of Pinos del Valle in the Lecrín Valley, we renovate and rent out (holiday) properties. I write about the moments when we are confronted with language problems and cultural differences in the social interaction with our Spanish villagers. Accepting the Spanish bureaucracy with “paciencia” is our biggest challenge! Sometimes we feel to be on the set of a film by the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, with the many absurd soap-like storylines, which never seem to amaze us and which we are enjoying immensely! You can read my three previous blog posts in English here:

1. Dutchies in Spain

2. A tour through the Valley in Cuatro Latas

3. A day in the Alpujarras 

4. Witch hunting

5. Neighbours