Over here - fiesta de cumpleaños

John and I have been living in Spain for almost six years and, in spite of our limited language skills, we are proud to say that we have made many Spanish friends in our local town of Jumilla.

John celebrated his 70th birthday party on 1 March with friends and family in London, however he decided to have another party in a local bodega (winery) back home in Spain the following weekend. As well as prolonging his birthday celebrations, John wanted to say thank you to all our Spanish friends for welcoming two foreigners, who hardly spoke a word of Spanish, into their community.

Our neighbours are very patient when we try to speak to them in Spanish, which is of course essential when you live in a mainly Spanish-speaking town. They have seen our ability to speak their language improve slowly over the years that we have been living here though, being over 65 (in my case) and over 70 now (in John's), we often forget or mispronounce words.  If only we had been taught Spanish when we were at school.....!

Me with Andrés Junior

One thing that I love about Spanish people is how generous they are with their compliments: everyone greeted me with "guapa" when they arrived, which as you can imagine was very much appreciated! They were very generous with their presents too, though I have to say that my favourite one was the picture that our friend Angel had painted.

I'm happy to report that everyone seemed to be having a great time, partly because of the delicious food and drinks provided by Pascual, from one of our favourite bar/restaurants Bar Paraiso, as well as from Bodega Viña Campanero, where the party was held. Partly because our good friend Johnny Sax entertained us with his great music, which had everyone up and dancing. Oh yeah!! But mainly because Spanish people know how to enjoy themselves, which is one of the joys of living here  in Spain. I'm already looking forward to the next fiesta.

Spanish friends at the party

Our new life in Spain

Jumilla Castle

A couple of readers have shown an interest in the fact that although we are Brits we live in Spain, so I thought I would give a summary of our story and answer the following questions. What was behind our decision to move to Spain?  How did we end up living in the Spanish town of Jumilla?

Like many others nearing retirement our dream was, once we retired, to live somewhere with a better climate than the UK . We were living and working in London at the time, and I faced a daily commute to work. It was a fairly stressful lifestyle, so we hoped to find somewhere where we could relax and be almost free from stress. We also wanted to live somewhere that was cheaper than London so that our pensions would go further!

We considered several destinations before deciding on Spain and then went on many viewing trips to different areas within Spain before making our final choice. The most important considerations for us were to live in or near a working Spanish town rather than an expat urbanisation; to have reliable public transport, as we don't drive; to have a variety of shops, bars and restaurants within the town - so that we didn't miss all the facilities that London has to offer too much. We decided that we would prefer to live inland, partly because property there is cheaper than on the coast, partly because we didn't fancy putting up with masses of tourists during the summer months, but mainly because we wanted to experience the "real" Spain.

As soon as we visited Jumilla on a viewing trip we knew that this was somewhere where we could live quite happily. The main shopping centre is fairly small, however there are four large supermarkets plus traditional fruit and veg shops, butchers, bakers and fish-mongers.  I'm sure there must be a candle-stick maker tucked away on one of the back streets too!  I love the freshness and flavour of these local products and also, of course, the prices. The Tuesday market is excellent and always attracts the few other Brits who live in this area, most of them either in the depths of the countryside or in one of the nearby villages.

Jumilla is very much an agricultural community, with lots of fresh fruit grown locally as well as olives (we can buy extra virgin olive oil direct from the producer, about 600 metres from our house), almonds and above all grapes. The main "industry" in Jumilla is wine, with several bodegas located in the town, three of which are within easy walking distance of our new home. As wine drinkers, this is an extra benefit of living here!

There are many herds of goats in the countryside too, as another local industry is cheese-making. Central Quesera Montesinos has won many international awards for its fine cheeses. If you enjoy cheese and wine parties, I can assure you that Jumilla is a good place to live!

I'm not sure how many bars and restaurants there are in Jumilla, but when you consider that 26 of them are taking part in the Ruta del Tapa next month (2€ for a tapa and glass of wine), and we can think of many more that aren't participating, it is obvious that we have more than enough to choose from.  We go out for a coffee most days and pay a maximum of 2€ for the two of us. If we fancy a three-course lunch with wine and coffee included, we know many good bars and restaurants where it will only cost us between 8 and 12€ per head. Did I mention that living here is cheaper than in London?

Teatro Vico

Talking about prices, we have enjoyed a variety of concerts, dance displays and other theatrical activities in our local theatre, where the most we have paid for seats in the stalls has been 12€. We usually pay 5€ to watch any local dancers, choirs or bands. Throughout the year there are many free concerts held outside in gardens or squares, plus any procession through the streets of Jumilla is almost guaranteed to include at least one marching band.

Although Jumilla may not be a well-known tourist destination, there is plenty of interest for people who enjoy history. Historical sites include: La Hoya de la Sima, 11km outside town, where you can see fossils footprints, including those of the sabre-toothed tiger, camel and three-toed horse; El Casón, the 5th century funerary monument, which is one of the best-preserved in the world; the 15th century Santiago Church, which is a National Monument, and of course our recently restored Castle, which dominates the skyline as you approach Jumilla.

Finally, here is a link to a video showing some views of Jumilla, with a sound-track provided by our good friend Johnny Pugh, who just happens to live near Jumilla: enjoy!

Good neighbours

There is a tendency as you get older to reflect on the "good old days" and remember how much better life seemed to be, how much friendlier and neighbourly everybody was when we were young.  I don't necessarily agree with this: my philosophy is to enjoy life as it is NOW, not to waste time looking back and not too worry about what the future may bring.

Living in a typically Spanish town though does tend to bring back memories of the past.  Our Spanish neighbours are warm and friendly and the local people give a lot of importance to the concept of being a neighbour (or vecino in Spanish).  I'm not saying that our neighbours back in London were unfriendly, as we got to know some of them pretty well, but here everybody speaks to you when they see you in the street, even the children and teenagers.  It takes me back to my childhood, where all our neighbours knew my name and I was aware that, if I got into mischief, it would be reported back to my parents!

Not long after we moved into our apartment, somebody broke into our storage room, which is near the underground parking area.  We hadn't been living there very long, and many people still hadn't moved in at the time as we live in a brand new building.  However our neighbour Isabel had heard what had happened, so she offered to drive us  down to the Guardia Civil to report the theft and she was also willing to wait there with us and drive us home again.  We had only seen Isobel a couple of times to say hello and were touched by her concern.

Then our neighbour José, whom we hadn't met before, knocked on our door and said how sorry he was to hear about the robbery and that there was plenty of room in his storage room if we needed to store anything there.  Not knowing how much Spanish we spoke, José even managed to say all of this in English, though he said he hadn't spoken English for many years.

As well as helping out when things go wrong, our neighbours are also keen to share the good times with us.  In Spanish towns the districts are called barrios and your neighbours aren't just your immediate neighbours, they are anybody who lives in the same barrio, which in our case is San Juan.  One day we were walking up the street several blocks away from where we live when a woman we didn't recognise grabbed my arm and said "Vecinos!"  She then took us to a garage where a bar had been set up and told us it was the local fiesta of San Juan so we had to have some beer, wine and food with them!

Enjoying the folklore festival with the neighbours

This sometimes extends beyond your own barrio.  We were with two English friends during the Folklore Festival last year when Mari Carmen spotted us and told us to go along the road for lunch.  We assumed that she was telling us about a new bar or restaurant, but when we got there it was just a garage with a bar set up in the corner.  However the neighbours of  barrio San Anton insisted on us all sitting down, as we were "Jumillanos" (as people living in Jumilla are called), and we were then supplied with lots of food and drink.  They were hosting one of the folk groups so we even got free entertainment once the group had been fed and watered!

What is it like in your neighbourhood?  Do you know your neighbours - and are they as friendly and helpful as our neighbours in Spain are?