Agents and allen-keys

We holidayed on the Costa del Sol in June/July 2016, as we had for the previous 5 or 6 years. La Cala de Mijas is a nice place to holiday, and only in the last 2 years has it started to feel a little like a British enclave. Some chap from TOWIE has bought a restaurant there, and pretends it's in Marbella.

La Cala de Mijas. We hope it can cling on to its Andalucian charm.

We rent a nice little atico for 2 weeks, wander down to our favourite chiringuito, and idly while away the days with good books, good food and vibrant Spanish beach-life going on all around us. I have a great deal of time for La Cala and its charms, but in the Summer of 2016, I have to admit to my thoughts being 700km to the north-east much of the time.

Valencia was on my mind.

We were back at the end of August. It's a very hot city at that time of year. The old boy in an apartment opposite ours sits on his balcony in just his underpants until late at night. Perhaps he thinks nobody can see him. Or perhaps he just doesn't care.

Anyway, it's a bit too hot to be wielding the dreaded allen key. We had pre-ordered what can only be described as a shit-load of furniture from a well-known Scandinavian furniture store, and arranged for 2 very nice English fellas from Javea to deliver it to us, and build the difficult bits, new bed included.

But this still left a lot of allen-keying to do. And it was hot. And we don't have aircon yet.

We got it done, there were no arguments and not too much frustration, and as a result we have nice furniture. We also arranged for 2 very nice Spanish fellas from a local church to come and take away some furniture the vendor had left behind, that we didn't want. Unemployment remains high in Spain, and people need this stuff... churches use donations like this to help them.

So far, so good.

One thing I've had to do is shake off the protective feelings I have for the apartment, and realise that it needs to be a source of income, as well as a home. I'll need to let strangers in and allow them to make themselves comfortable when we're not there (for a fee). I'll also need to get someone to manage this for me.

Having arranged to meet a very nice self-employed young guy, who had set himself up as a letting agent for owners using Airbnb, I decided that this wasn't the route I wanted to go down. Airbnb isn't earning the best reputation in Barcelona and other places due to rowdy groups of renters upsetting neighbours. Our neighbours seem nice, and I have no wish to upset them for a profit.

I met with a business that manages short-term rentals to expats & professionals. The rentals they secure should allow space for plenty of use for ourselves, and they will then fill any remaining gaps with visitors for the big festivals such as Fallas. There is still a little way to go in establishing next steps in this relationship, but the agreement is signed, and I already know that they fit the Valencian model of friendly, helpful and easy to get on with.

We're now looking forward to being back in Valencia on December 26th. We'll have a few last things to sort before rental begins in 2017 ("wifi is the new hot water") and we'll enjoy a Valencian Nochevieja with our 12 grapes and a little cava.