Diary of a Spanish Holiday Home Owner

We have been renting the apartment out ever since we took ownership of the keys back in February 2007.  When you are buying your property the agent or developer will tell you that you can rent it out for over 40 weeks a year and the income from that will easily cover any size mortgage you may want to take out. We took all that with a pinch of salt and a good job as well. The costs of renting are very high (more on that later) and it takes a lot of organising but it is well worth it. Personally, I like the idea that other people are sharing your own experiences and the apartment is not sitting there dark and locked up.

The second, or maybe third, most surprising thing that has happened to us was when Katie and I were in the kitchen washing up after breakfast. We put away the cutlery in the draw and Katie noticed a bit of paper sticking out from underneath the cutlery tray. What with Katie and her OCD tendencies and everything she just had to tidy it away, lifted up the tray and there it was about 160 Euros in crisp new notes. I don’t think she believed me for a while that I hadn’t put it there myself, nice and safe and out of the way. Being the honest types we are we emailed everyone who had ever stayed in the apartment and asked if they had left “anything of value” in a kitchen draw? Everyone came back and said no, so “finder’s keepers” in this case and with a clear conscience as well. In this case we are 160 Euros in credit but it hardly ever works out that way.

I’m sure I didn’t put it there myself, or did I?
 

No, I'm not talking about a national newspaper which some would say believes it can determine the outcome of the next election.  It is obvious I know but one of the things I look forward to most when we go out to Spain is the warming and heeling feeling of the sun on my back.
 

 

Apart from a couple of weeks in October, when the weather breaks at the end of summer and what seems to be like the whole of February, you are guaranteed sunshine most of the time.   It doesn't have to be the middle of summer for it to be warm enough to walk around in shorts and tea shirts.  If you can find a corner where you are out of any wind a day in the middle of Janauary can often feel like the best day of a British summer.  With this in mind, one favourite winter venue or ours is the Dolphin restaurant in our local port.  It's a perfect location for a sunny mid morning coffee with the opportunity to relax and watch the world go round.

For a moment then I was actually sat there ..... Oh well, back to work.  Only two more weeks more before we fly out.  I must find out when they are going to turn the heating on in my office and check how the pound  is doing against the Euro !!!!

Okay so we now have our dream holiday home in the sun and as I mentioned earlier we can go there as often as we like, or can we?   Obvious I know but the biggest draw back is that because we have a mortgage on the property in Spain both my wife and I have to work in the UK to pay the mortgage.  Don't get me wrong, I must have the best job in the world and no one can or should take paid employment for granted, but we are restricted to 25-30 days holiday a year.  Also we have a seven year old son at school so we are restricted to taking our holidays in the school holidays at a time when those nice airlines demonstrate their true customer care skills and take advantage by tripling the fares for their captive audience and loyal customers.

The other issue is that you may not always want to go to the same place every holiday.  Strange as it may seem to many, we do actually take all our holidays and some long weekends in our apartment in Spain.  Since we "owned" the apartment we must have been there about five or six times a year.  Are we bored, no not at all?  There is always something new to do and places to go.  I can't tell you how relaxing it is to turn up on holiday to somewhere comfortable that you are familiar.  From the first second you arrive you are relaxed and totally in the holiday mood.

There will be a time when we decide to venture elsewhere, as we did before, but for now we make up for it by making the most of our time in the UK by going away at weekends and exploring the south coast of England where we live.