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The coronavirus lockdown in Spain
Since March the coronavirus hit Spain hard. Spain is actually one of the worst hit countries in the world. At the height of the crisis Spanish TV was showing hospitals completely overrun by patients, with people on chairs in corridors and even laying on the floor. Currently Spain has 222.857 confirmed cases (Spanish). The only country with more confirmed cases is the USA. However, because of Spain’s lower population, the amount of confirmed cases per 1.000.000 inhabitants is much higher compared to the USA. It has been so bad that the public hospitals couldn’t handle the situation. Because of this, Spain has temporarily nationalized all the private clinics and hospitals…
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Drilling our well
To build a house you need to have access to water. To mix concrete, to clean, to drink, to live. On rural land there are several ways to get water. If you are lucky and there are water mains nearby you can get connected to them. Otherwise you will need to get a share (acciones) in a community or a neighbors well. Or of course, get your own well. Since our land has no nearby water mains, and our neighbors are also pretty far away, we decided to make a well. To make a well you would have to dig or drill to the water table. In Spain that is…
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Storm Gloria’s aftermath
Last week a heavy storm wreaked havoc in Spain. The storm, named Gloria, made headlines all over Europe. It seems the storm was strongest in the regions of Alicante, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. But also in our region we experienced 4 days of really bad weather. The longest since we moved here. During these days it was rainy and only around 11 degrees Celsius, which is very cold for this region. This may still sound like an okay winter temperature for many other Europeans, but houses here aren’t built for that type of cold. They are built to lose the heat in summer! During the day our heating system…
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Visiting Vilafamés, the red village
Not long ago we went for a trip to Vilafamés, a small village a bit further south. It was our first visit to the town. The trip took us a bit less than an hour from where we live at the moment. It lies a bit inland from the touristic resorts of Oropesa del Mar and Benicàssim at the coast, not far from Castellón Airport. Together with Peñíscola and Morella, it is considered to be one of the prettiest villages of Castellón. So it was pretty high on our list of places to visit! Just another famous Instagram model. Roca Grossa, the rock that possibly gave the villagers of Vilafamés…
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Last summer
Since our last blogpost a lot of things have been moving in the right direction, slowly, and as always with a few setbacks. As we have said in our last blogpost, the road to the land was our number 1 priority this summer. And so, we contacted several companies to see what they would advise us and what the costs would be. Apparently it’s going very well with the local road building businesses, because one of them didn’t want to give us a price yet, because they wouldn’t have time for another 3 or 4 months. Anyway, we decided to continue with a company that had time and wasn’t too…
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About our Spanish hills
Before we moved to Spain we started the process of buying rural land in the region we were moving to. Let’s start with the bad news. Since the process is so complicated and time consuming it still hasn’t finished yet. The entire land consists out of 5 different plots. At the moment, 4 out of 5 have been registered correctly. The registration of the fifth one will probably take at least another half year. The good news is that since last week the plot that we want to build on has finally been registered properly. So we are again a little step further and can now move on to the…
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2 castles in the afternoon
Last week we decided to go on a trip to the castles in the natural park south of Peñiscola, Serra d’Irta. This park along the coast has many ruins. Old farms, ancient watchtowers and of course the 2 castles which we visited. The Pulpis Castle and the Castle of Xivert. Both of the castles have been built on a hill, overlooking the valley. Walking to Pulpis Castle Torre del Homenaje of Pulpis Castle We went with our new friend Jazz, which we first had to pick up. After that we went to the Pulpis Castle, which is closest to Peñiscola. We didn’t know the way exactly, but with the castle…
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Introducing Peñiscola
The old town of Peñiscola is one of the best known and prettiest locations in the region. You may have never heard of it, but you have definitely seen it. Since it starred in Game of Thrones as the city of Meereen. The city that was liberated from slavery by Daenerys in the 4th season. In reality, modern day Peñiscola is a small town with just over 7000 inhabitants. Pictures of the town are often used to promote Spanish tourism abroad. Despite this, most of the tourists in the region are Spaniards. And they mostly arrive in the summer. Especially the month of August is busy, when the amount of…
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The Easter processions during Semana Santa in Vinaròs
The week before Easter, also known as the Holy Week or Semana Santa, is a week filled with religious events. Some of the events organized in Spain during this week are well known and attract large crowds. The the Easter processions in Seville or Zamora. But processions like these are held in cities all over Spain. Also in the city we currently live in, Vinaròs. This year the Holy Week in the southern and eastern parts of Spain, normally the sunniest parts of the country, had to deal with strong winds and hard rains. This Easter storm brought was so bad that several Spanish cities had to deal with floods.…
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The Carnival of Vinaros 2019
The last weeks we experienced our first ever carnival! The carnival of Vinaros is one of the biggest events of the year in our region. It has a different main theme every year. This year the theme was China. The carnival started on the 16th of February and lasted until the 4th of March. During these weeks there are concerts, displays of fireworks and other events held throughout the city. Queens of the Carnival of Vinaros One of the main events is the Gala de Reinas, the Gala of the Queens. At this event every comparsa, a carnival troupe, shows their Reina. A person in an extravagant, Rio de Janeiro-like…
