From North Devon to South Spain in seven decades... Part Three: A New Life in Andalucía

After three decades of regular visits to Spain, it got to the millennium and 25 years of married life.

So in summer 2000 my wife and I decided to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary by touring Andalucía, a region we didn’t yet know. Flight to Málaga, two nights in spectacular Ronda, two in stunning Arcos de la Frontera, a sherry tour in tranquil Jerez de la Frontera, via beautiful Carmona to two more nights in gorgeous Córdoba, surely the best of the big three Andalucían cities (Sevilla, Granada and Córdoba), then via Roman Antequera back to bustling Málaga. We were both hooked on the region and decided to spend some of an upcoming windfall on a property in the Serranía de Ronda.

The following year, after several further visits to the area and lots of viewings, we bought a little apartment in the San Francisco barrio of Ronda, which we enjoyed as a family for a number of years until life took a sharp turn in a different direction.

After redundancy, early retirement and divorce in 2005 I was able to spend lengthy periods in this beautiful cliff-top town. Over a couple of years I did up two houses, one for me and one for a lady friend, and I got to know lots of people, locals and immigrants alike. The social life was something I’d always craved, but never really had before, apart from when I was a student in San Sebastian, over three decades earlier.

Then finally in 2008, my somewhat chaotic life sorted itself out, everything came together at the right time, I met Rita and I was able to fulfil my dream of moving to Spain to live full-time.

So here I was, married again and living contentedly in our little old house in one of the white villages near Ronda, dabbling in a bit of writing and translating and feeling a lot younger than the 60 years old I became in 2010!

It took all of 60 years to get from North Devon to South Spain, but I made it in the end! And, by gum, it was worth waiting for…