El Turro

Bernard; I have been trying to get in touch with you... Please check the email address for your house... Its important!

Hi Summersun70 Sorry to have stolen your thunder about being the first in El Turro.When you are back would be delighted to meet you.If your husband is on his own tell him to pop along and see us,We are the last house before the cemetry,just ring the bell and we can have a beer together.Mick and Pat.

hello everybody, the el turro blog is expanding, so many comments we will need a website soon. Look forward to meeting Mick & Pat, i know where you live, will call next time in spain ( end of june), and theaby. bernard

Hi Ana & Nigel, I think i met you nigel in oct?. Will be at the house in march. see you then. Bernard

Hi foxbat Im so sorry to hear of your dreadful news with regards to the english "builders". For nearly three years now we have co-ordinated building projects for english clients, using only spanish builders, and recently nearly half our work is going in and either repairing, undoing, or finishing what the so-called english "builders" had done. So you have our full sympathy. We were ourselves looking for a small place to buy in El Turro, but as you say there are so many untrustworthy english people ... I really hope you get sorted out soon.. best wishes Justin

Hi Nigel, yes thats me, getting bigger by the day, he doesn't arrive until the end of July, beginning of August and the weathers gone from cold to boiling, probably spend the next couple of months lying down under the AC. Give us a shout when you want the plastering doing.

Dear Summerson70 i am so sorry to hear of your bad experience. As I say we are called in a lot these days for our spanish builders to repair, replace or make good botched jobs from so.called "english builders". We always provide references, email and telephone number of previous clients for verification. I strongly suggest anyone using such english builders to get similar recommendations. Also No price on a job should change after the quote has been agreed. If something is dicovered (often in old properties) that was unforseen, no extra work is undertaken without agreeing with the client any extra costs, together with the different options open to them. Just hope these few words may help people in future .. Justin & Michael

Hi We have just bought a house in El Turro, on Calle de Granada. I would be very grateful for any information regarding purchasing building materials,obtaining gas, local builders etc. Can anyone help? Please email me ray_marriott@lineone.net We will be visiting El Turro from 23/4/07 until 4/5/07 maybe we can meet up? Thanks in anticipation of your replies Ray & Di

Just dropping in here to keep the blog alive...

Thanks Victor, word of mouth is always the best advertisment. Glad to see you getting out, it can't be easy on your own and especially when your dream of life in the sun hasn't worked out the way you planned. We have had loads of problems since moving here but its all a learning curve and it seems to be getting easier.

Hi ray and Di, we are thinking of buying a place in el turro also. Our business in spain (we live in Seville province) is to do with reforming spanish houses for english clients, so if youd like any help drop me a line at j_bindley@hotmail.com and Ill tell you more! best wishes Justin

Hi everybody.I dont know who wrote the original letter on this site but they got a few facts wrong.We were the first Brits in El Turro having moved here in March 2004,also there are 2 bars in El Turro as well as a doctors.Mick and Pat.

My turn to apologise. I was just on the phone to my wife and she suggested that perhaps henceforth I should call myself Victor, for reasons which may in time become all too obvious! I thought brilliant idea so onto the profile page and lo and behold Victor is alive and well and living in El Turro....

Hi Mick & Pat, I dont think the people who started this moved to el turro, i knew about yourselves when i brought, and sopme other who brought a run down, but with no plans to do any work. bernard

Yes,I think I remember you Theaby.If I am right you were having a baby,has it happened yet? I will need a plasterer soon(lost your number)keep an on this blog ok

sorry victor ...your name came up as foxbat a minute ago! Not sure what is going on ...!!!!

Ana's Spanish omlette comes highly reccommended! Hope all in El Turro are keeping well, can't wait to get back

I have just bought in the road below you. Moving in in late Feb:. Let the winter go through first. Hope to see you maybe?

Just in case you are wondering what the blank space is all about I tried to post a link to the Madeleine website. But basically it doesnt want to know! Im sure everyone knows about it anyway but as a reminder... www.bringmadeleinehome.com The site is being constantly updated.

Sounds like to good to miss! Donde esta Rafael Alberti?

Hi Justin Good advice for anyone buying and renovating property in Spain. We did use recommendations, but obviously not the right ones! We will use Spanish builders next time I think - when we can afford it that is!

Bernard, Hope you got your problem sorted out.

Hi all, We live in the next village but are looking to buy a smaller house in El Turro, the one we have here is far too big, nice idea originally but I spend all my time trying to clean it! We have been renovating for 18 months and I wonder sometimes if we will ever finish it. Victor you know my hubbie, unfortunately through the "builder" you used, he too has come out the wrong side by being associated with him, you were the one and only job he did for him but we are still waiting on the money, don't worry we're not chasing you and I hope you are happy with the work he did for you, I know he called to see you the other day to check. Its a pity we can't name and shame him. Nigel and Ana, nice to see you have settled in, we met one day outside the townhall here in our village. Ray and Di, we have spent the last 18 months sourcing materials and suppliers so if you still need any help we are happy to share what we know. Bernard, Mick and Pat we are yet to meet, but maybe sometime in the future if we move we could meet up.

Everyone... We are now top of the Google hit parade for El Turro

I see Manchester United are top of the premiership again-------------ba humbug

Hi Mick and Pat, sorry to claim your place as first Brits in El Turro. We bought our house in 1995 and the vendors told us we were the only people living here who were British. Wish we had known about you then; living in El Turro is lovely but sometimes it is nice to be able to speak english to someone, especially as our spanish is still not particularly good. I'm in the UK at the moment, but my husband is in El Turro. Perhaps we could meet sometime?

Hi Bernard and all I am the LAST one to move here,as I said I love it here. Doing my own renovations(i'm a carpenter). Having a barbie here soon,will let you all know when & your all invited(leave the knives at home)!!

Hi Bebe, I at present dont live in el turro, i live in the uk. The village is very friendly, peaceful,i enjoy the countryside, mountains etc.There is a bus from the village to granada twice a day. i also have friend in cacin. There is a couple from the uk who live there. do you already live in espana.Where are you from ? bernard

Hi yes thanks got a local builder who lives on the square near el cachos, hell do the work over weekends, also got some firewood from the bar. i hope its not too sunny over their, normal weather service over here,and back into work. Bernard

Hi Bernard,it's stinking hot over here.Just walkedpast your front door,will be able to walk in without opening it if it shrinks much more!!!!!

'Victor' has told it just like it is. Our errant 'builder' is the reason I am typing this entry from the UK after a day working in a call centre - not exactly as we had planned things. But at the end of the day, even though we have been through a lot with our little 'place in the sun', having a home in El Turro, and so near to Granada, is still worth it all. I just hope our experience acts as a warning to others to be more careful with builders and 'project managers' than we were.

Hello all Moved in now (brilliant). The loudest vehicle is a tractor. A bit cooler but can put up with that. The people in El Turro are lovely.Up here the British have to live Spanish style not like on the coast.Best move Iv'e made, wish i'd done it years ago

Theaby, no problem at all on the recommendation. If I find someones work to be good I'll shout it from the rooftops!

btw, Hello Bernard. Thanks for all the help you gave us when we attempted to move our sofa cama. Much appreciated! We finally got it downstairs with the help of two removal men and some ingenious twisting and turning. All we have to do now is fill in all the holes we made in the plasterwork - and the stair tiles of course.... :)

Ok,I think i've sorted out who's who, Victor, if your all on your own, or even if not come up to Rafael Alberti and have a Spanish omlette.Ana my partner is Spanish, Ray & Di will recomend it i'm sure

Bernard. Weather got better just after you left. Beautiful sunshine now for five days in a row average temp 27 to 30 degrees. Anything I can do to help whilst you are away please let me know.

Hi Bernard,nice to hear from you,we have also heard of you but we never have seemed to met.Do you live here permantly? Mick and Pat

Hi, I'm thinking of buying in el turro.What is it like? Is it advisable? :) What is there around there? What do you do with your time? Thanks Bebe

hi guys am also thinking of buying a small place in el turro (Bernard ive seen inside your rennovation!)..can anyone help with finding a corredor for purchsing? many thnx gracias! Justin j_bindley@hotmail.com

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Cant afford litigation otherwise I would be seriously considering it!

hi Nigel & Victor, Thank s for the reminder about the current weather. That door, a total pain, but thats builder as we all know. Thanks for the offer victor, let you know. see you all on 26 june. bernard

hola, to my fellow el turro fans. I brought a house in oct 04, on calle de la cruz, numero 9. I wll be back in oct. Bernard I usually visit el cachos on the square

Hello everyone, We stand corrected; ok so we weren't the first Brits to move in to the village... Second maybe? My wife started this page what seems like a lifetime ago. I had quite forgotten its existence until Bernard told me about it today. It all seemed rather familiar so I thought I would take a look... and here we are. Eighteen months ago we bought here a tiny little run down place in the village. Back in September we engaged the services of a Brit builder...regrettably because in some respects this was our biggest mistake. He came highly recommended by our estate agent and, in a roundabout way, Channel 5 TV in the UK. I am not going to mention names because my feelings are way too hurt. Basically he promised us the earth, 'a house to be proud of'. Turnround time 8 to 10 weeks and at a price we could just about afford. Now put me right if I am wrong, but 8 to 10 weeks to build a small extension, install a new bathroom and kitchen, and put a roof terrace on the extension seems reasonable enough. So we agreed. The story of the renovation drags on and I do not propose going into detail, but here we are half way through May and the job still isnt finished and he appears to have deserted us. About four months into the build he came to us saying he needed additional funding over and above the agreed price. He made it clear that without this funding he would be unable to continue. Reluctantly we had to agree, the house at that time was uninhabitable. We forced the issue eventually and just after February we moved in anyway and started work ourselves. Very slowly we are getting the place together. Let me say at this point this was always going to be tight financially; we are not well off, we are trying to get by on a small private pension and can ill afford to employ another builder. Slowly but surely the rest of our capital melted away as we strove to get the place finished. My wife is currently back in the UK, trying to raise some extra cash by going back to work, this is not at all what we had planned. But being a lot younger than me, her chances of finding work were a damn sight better than mine. So I am here not quite on my own; I have my two mad dogs for company, one a tan, skinny female greyhound with anorexic tendencies and the other a silver grey male Saluki, who considers any dog smaller than him to be lunch…King of the Hill… not! So if you see us walking along the prom(!) give us a wave, come say hello. My wife will be back in the village on June 2nd for a week. We look forward to hearing from any of you. As she said in her last entry, maybe we could all meet up and swap stories... After my wife started this blog we both forgot all about it so there is a lot of catching up to do. Welcome everyone to this blog. And to anyone else considering this village for resettlement I would say this, come and have a look, see for yourself...

no problem .. as long as you arnt breaching any bbc copyright laws!! justin!

Hi Victor Coming from Moralada 1st left -2nd right no: catorce

Theaby, Hi, welcome to the blog. Both of us victims of his lordship... So far as I am aware someone who got taken for a hell of a lot more money than us is actually sueing him, which probably accounts for the fact that he's keeping a very low profile. As I have said elsewhere in this blog if we had the finances to do so, we'd be doing the same thing. Can I just say this, I can recommend your hubby to anyone needing a plasterer. His work really is good. God luck with the baby, take it easy! Nigel & Ana, many thanks for a very pleasant evening. Ana,your Tortilla Espanol is everything Ray and Di said it was We must do it again. I know Summersun is really looking forward to meeting everyone. We have been very insular since we moved in, up to our necks in our own problems and hadnt realised that there were so many of us here in the village. Mick and Pat; whilst we may have lost the who was here first contest, we do have one claim to fame (I think)... We have the smallest house in the village...

Mick, Pat, Nigel, Ana; Many thanks for your invitations. I would be delighted to join you.