If only it would rain!
Buenos dias from Álora in the Valle del Sol (The Valley of the Sun) where it is raining heavily.
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The washing-up bowl at the bottom of our stairs is dry again, which means that the plastic table cloth on the roof is doing a good job. I can't wait for the weather to clear up so that I can climb up on the slippery tiled roof to try and plug the leak and, if possible, not make matters worse by breaking a tile or two or even 'doing a Rod Hull'.
Our roof
A not leaky roof
Rod Hull's roof.
After 25 special masses, synchronised praying, and weekly 'Danzas de la Sequía' (rain dances) put on by the Paquita Velázquez School of Drama and Stamping, the long-awaited-for rain finally arrived.
"Ya está lloviendo, bab?"
!Que coño Paquita! Basta ya! No puedo más!"
In February the reservoirs that supply Málaga and the Costa del Sol were at their lowest for 80 years, despite having been built in 1974. Only 14% of the average annual rainfall (488mm..19.2 inches) had fallen (68mm). The golf course owners were starting to sweat and there was talk of a hosepipe ban.
Well, it's all come at once ....and more! It's been chucking it down for three weeks, the reservoirs are full and now all the Perotes (Álora people) are praying for it to stop. The long awaited Semana Santa (Easter Week), the first for three years, kicks off on Sunday, which is only four days away.
Reservoir empty
Apart from all the leaky roofs, the other downside to this rainy spell is that the rain has come in a series of 'calimas' (Saharan dust storms) full of 'mud from Africa'.
Álora is one of the many Andalusian 'white villages'. A lot of them have now turned brown. The word on everyone's lips is 'barro' which means 'mud', and it's not easy to remove when it dries. I shifted most of it from our garden walls with my pressure hose, but the paint came off too. Another job for me when the sun comes back.
And if all that wasn't bad enough, there have been 'levante' storms along the coast. The high winds have blown the sand right off some of the Costa del Sol beaches, Pedregalejo has been flooded by record 10 metre high waves and there are calls for a 'state of catastrophy' by the people who depend on Easter holidaymakers for their 'pan de cada día' (daily bread).
Be careful what you wish for...all that praying and dancing was bound to end in tears.
It's good to be back in Álora, despite the higher prices for everything, the shortages caused by a national lorry strike and the poor weather. Thanks to our Highland Heroes, Celia and Stewart, the garden has survived well. We've pruned the grape vine and it's now in leaf and we've been able to put in a few new plants and do some repotting between the showers.
It's a right old palaver getting back into Spain, though, what with the Covid passport the dog passport, the UK passport (which has to have at least 6 months on it counting from when the passport was issued instead of when it expires), making sure I drive to the right port this time, not taking in any meat or dairy products and, last but the biggest pain in the arse - the Spanish Health Certificate and locator form (SpTH) which you can only fill in online and no more 48 hours before you arrive in Spain, 29 hours of which will be spent on board the MS Galicia which only lets you have 45 minutes free internet access.
Well, the good news is that you don't have to do it any more.
Spain has just announced that as long as you have a Covid vaccination certificate (The UK one is recognised as 'EU Equivalent') or a certificate of recovery after having Covid.
We drove up to El Chorro on Saturday to have a look at the 'The Lakes' and give Monty a walk. We were with some friends who live just down the road from us in Birmingham and who have a place in Benamocarra, near Vélez Málaga. Naturally we wanted to show off Álora and the area around El Chorro is always impressive. Even though it takes about half an hour to drive to El Chorro, it is still part of Álora's 'municipality' and it includes part of the Caminito del Rey, who now attracts lots of tourists.
El Caminito del Rey (The King's Little Pathway)
The original path was built in 1905 as a shortcut for the men working on the new hydroelectric installations which are still in full swing today. The 'King' referred to is King Alfonso XIII who came to inaugurate the new installation in 1921 and, allegedly, walked a couple steps along the path - much shorter steps than he took in 1931 when did a runner to Italy with 85 million pesetas in used banknotes.
Here he is getting off the train at El Chorro Station.
Before the Caminito was rebuilt a few years ago it had become a dangerous ruin, very popular with scorned lovers, bankrupts, olympic divers and dare-devils of all description. Anyone planning to do the walk should first watch this film of the Camino in 2008.
The scenery up there is spectacular and, in addition to the lakes created by the original Presa (dam) del Conde de Guadalhorce, the reservoirs (embalses) which supply most of the water used by the Costa Del Sol are up there too.
Most people round here think that all this lovely water comes down to Álora, but we don't get a drop of it. It's a bit of a mystery where Álora's water does come from. I asked a funcionario at the town hall water department once and he said 'del grifo' (from the tap) and another chap added 'del depósito' (water tank). It turns out that most of the town's water comes from wells, a spring up at El Chorro and the river.
Doesn't seem fair, really.
Bar News
The bad news for us is that our favourite restaurant in Álora has closed. La Lonja de Mamely, which most of the ex-pats called 'The fish place'. It did specialise in delicious fresh fish and shellfish, especially tuna, and a meal there was our regular Friday night treat.
Bar Marín on Calle Alegrias is also very good for seafood, but a bit of a hike from the centre of town and up a steep hill. We'll give it another visit soon.
La Galería, that has opened recently is very popular at the moment. It used to be Cafetería Azahar and run by the lovely Candelaria before she hung up her apron. It's run by Blanca Vila now and she seems very simpática too
It's by the traffic lights and opens in the evenings. We've only been a couple of times for a coffee or tapas.
It´s stopped raining now and sunny, warm weather is forecast for the next few days. Time to get the paint brush out.
Happy Easter.
Juanito Sánchez
7th. April 2022
