Fulfilling A Dream In Bubion

What a whirlwind! Life is indeed full of surprises. We were saying how wherever we go we feel like we could end up living there. It has happened to us several times before, but the pull has never been so strong as it is here in the High Alpujarras. We were wondering how much property costs up here, knowing that some of the lower towns have become very popular with the British in particular. Further up, around here, there is a drop off in the cost of homes. The casita in which we are staying is owned by a British couple from Brighton. The question is always, “How could one make a living in a place so remote?” I started to think about ‘remoteness’. Madison is a long way from anywhere too. In distance, Bubion is closer to Granada than Madison is to Milwaukee. There are mountains, cities, beaches and antiquity all within distances far nearer than Chicago. People here are quite modern and civilized which can’t honestly always be said for rural Wisconsin. The more I thought, the more it seemed possible. We started to seriously consider pulling up roots (again, in my case!) and moving to this beautiful part of Spain. Cindy is surprisingly just as excited about the place as I am. She loves the clean air, the fresh spring water, the healthy walks, the artisanal crafts, the flair for design, and the caring for the environment. The fact that I am already a European Community citizen makes everything much easier and affords us with free healthcare.
As you know, when you put out a thought out as an intention things often begin to happen. We mentioned how much we loved this area to our ‘keyholder’ Robin, himself from Surrey, England. He told us how he had gone through some of the same questions before moving out here permanently five years ago. He said that it had been a ‘leap of faith’ for him, but things had worked out really well. He now has a mountain bike tour guide business and is starting to use his skills as a landscape architect to revitalize the mountain communities. We talked about how nice it would be to fulfill Cindy’s lifelong dream to open a simple restaurant and art gallery. We would be able to live simply, provide wonderful gourmet delights in small quantities in the restaurant, and display local artwork (including our own) for sale in the gallery. I could work on my art, photography and writing.
As we were walking through the village yesterday we noticed a creperie which looked very inviting and went in to get a cappuccino and sat on the patio overlooking the mountains.

The owners are a Spanish couple, a woman who speaks five languages who runs the restaurant and her husband, an oil painter, whose artwork was displayed throughout the place. The woman told us that the place is for sale as she and her Husband want to move to the coast to be closer to their daughter and new grandchild. They have been trying to sell the place for some time and are eager to move on. There is a small restaurant with two picturesque patios, and a nice sized restaurant kitchen in the back. The couple live upstairs in a quaint two bedroom house with an attached small one bedroom rental property. We were given the tour even though we were certain that the price would be way out of our range. We got on really well with the woman and talked about all kinds of things while she showed us the property which she had remodeled beautifully. She said that it was quite run down when they bought it several years ago and that they had continued to make a good profit on the place over the years. The apartment is always rented by locals but could easily be opened up to foreign visitors at a higher rate.
The woman was quite animated and at one point she looked directly at Cindy and said,
“You know, I am a little psychic. I already see you living happily in this place. I will make it happen for you if you would like.” We asked what she meant as we had both already totally and completely fallen in love with the place. She answered “My Husband and I, we already have plenty of money – that is not a problem.”
I jumped in, a little suspicious, “We honestly could never afford this place.”
She responded that the property is listed for British customers at 100,000 pounds. With the weakening of the pound that is less than $150,000. She said that there is a Welsh man who is interested in the place, “But I don’t like him. You, I like!”
Anyway to cut along story short, we took a day and a half to think about this and decided that we had no choice. It seems like our destiny, almost unavoidable. We talked with an Englishman who lives in nearby Orgiva who brokers properties in the area. He gave us all the necessary details. As a British citizen it is apparently quite easy to buy property in Europe. One last detail made the whole thing magically fall into place. The couple are willing to stay in the property until next Spring which will give us plenty of time to wind up our affairs in the U.S. before moving. The English broker was flabbergasted at the low price of the property stating, “I’ve never seen anything bloody like it; if you don’t buy the place I bloody well will.”
So we went ahead and signed on the dotted line and as long as the building inspection goes well and we can arrange all the financing from the States we will move in next April. The current owners will stay on for a while next year to show us how to run the business. We are overwhelmed with excitement. Some may think we are being impulsive but quite honestly we are nobody’s fools. Except, of course, yours.