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For progress to be made in modernising Craig Briggs's ruined Galician farmhouse, the property must be linked to the power grid. An 8 metre tall concrete post has to be erected. Can the job be done immediately? Come on! This is Spain...
To read more of Craig's frustrating experiences as a property developer please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs tells of the frustrations of getting electricity connected to an old farmhouse in Galicia.
For more of Craig’s engaging accounts of life in rural Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
...Watching the drill sink deeper-and-deeper was like watching one's money disappear into a bottomless pit. We looked on for a while in the forlorn hope that water would be discovered...
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie look on anxiously as an uncommissioned drilling crew search for water at a ruined Galician farmhouse...
To read earlier chapters of Craig's property developing adventures please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
...As we stared through the toxic haze the familiar shape of a drilling-rig emerged. This giant tractor bounced and shook as the large drill slowly and rhythmically bored into the ground. Piles of grey dust, ground-up particles of rock, surrounded the drill head. The overgrown garden now looked more like a scene from the Somme during the Great War...
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie visit their rundown Spanish farmhouse - and find themelves in the midst of a property developer's nightmare.
To read earlier episodes of Craig's account of the roller coaster experience of buying and restoring the farmhouse please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
At last! A restoration dream looks like becoming a restoration reality!
Craig Briggs continues his account of the frustrations of modernising a derelict Galician farmhouse.
Do please click on Spanish Secrets for more of Craig's entertaining accounts of life in Galicia.
…In Galicia, the twenty-first century and the era of telecommunication are things that are happening elsewhere. It might come as a surprise to learn that we have friends living locally who have been waiting years for a telephone line, and others who have been forced to compromise by installing, a near-Neolithic radio-phone…
Craig Briggs tells of his battle to get a telephone line installed.
...As we rounded the corner into the drive we were surprised and delighted to find Angel the stonemason, hard at work - only two days later than promised. Clouds of dust billowed into the air as an old tractor, equipped with a fearsome-looking shovel, drove rough-shod over the baked garden. The old boundary wall had gone to be replaced by plumb-straight foundations.
After countless site visits, numerous quotes, drawn-out negotiations and daily soul-searching, work had finally begun on the restoration of our romantic rural retreat....
Work begins on modernising an old farmhouse, then comes a surprise opportunity to buy another house, as Craig Briggs reports.
Be prepared for major financial shocks when you ask for quotes on modernising an old Spanish farmhouse.
Craig Briggs continues his account of property development in Galicia.
...Having dutifully signed the legal papers, we handed Maruja a clean, white envelope containing a small bundle of crisp, fifty-euro banknotes. Contorting my facial muscles I managed to produce a strained impression of a polite smile. She opened the envelope and pulled out a virgin note. With the tips of her fingers she slid the note across the table towards us.
“This is for you. If you were poor I would have given you the land,'' she added mischievously...
Craig Briggs finally purchases a strip of land which will guarantee adequate access to an old Spanish farmhouse.
...We arrived as arranged, knocked on the door and awaited a response. To our bewilderment Maruja flung open the door and greeted us with a firm embrace and a delicate kiss to each cheek. We were treated like long lost relatives returning home after years away. No doubt the thought of receiving a handsome bounty for an insignificant strip of scrubland, had sent her dizzy with delight...
Craig and Melanie Briggs are making progress in restoring a rural Spanish property and providing it with adequate access. To read Craig's earlier accounts of this absorbing venture please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
In their bid to buy an old Spanish farmhouse Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie experience the snail-like pace of Spanish bureaucracy.
For more of Craig's words about his new life in Galicia please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on his page.
…Down quiet, leafy lanes, at every twist and turn, this tiny Spanish village held a turbulent history of family squabbles…
There’s a lot more to buying an old Spanish farmhouse and doing it up than you might think, as Craig Briggs reveals. To read earlier episodes of Craig’s farmhouse story – and many more articles about life in rural Galicia - please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…“It’s not going there!’’ Maruja was clearly agitated and upset.
Just when I thought everything was going well, the whole scene turned into a chaotic fiasco….
Craig Briggs tells of the dramatic day when a stonemason arrived to discuss the building of a boundary wall.
For more of Craig’s vivid accounts of life in rural Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie meet Angel the stonemason – and are shocked into silence when they see his astonishing creation.
To read more of Craig’s sparkling columns about life in Galicia please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…To a reserved Englishman, Spanish negotiations appear heated and aggressive. Voices are raised, fists clenched and fingers pointed. People wave their arms in disapproval, turn their backs and even walk away…
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie negotiate to buy a small strip of land to gain adequate access to the ruined farmhouse which they are turning into a holiday let in Galicia.
Craig Briggs goes in search of the Holy Grail and the Arch of the Covenant.
Continue reading "Seek And Ye Shall Find - A Spanish Secret" »
…This was the cue for him to begin his less than impressive illusionist's trick. From the glove box of his 4x4 he pulled out his magic wand – known to all as a divining rod. Holding two ends of a Y-shaped twig he marched to-and-fro across the garden.
Surprise, surprise!
In the exact spot where we had chosen our ideal location, the tail end of the Y rose like an erect flagpole. As he moved away it gently descended…
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie call in an expert to drill a well in the grounds of the remote farmhouse which they bought in Galicia.
To read earlier accounts of the trials of turning the farmhouse into a holiday let please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
So you buy an old farmhouse in Spain, intending to turn it into a holiday let. You call in a builder, get a quote from him, then sit back while the work proceeds?
Such is not the case. Craig Briggs continues his story of developing a property in Galicia.
To read earlier episodes of this story, and many more columns about Craig’s new life in Spain, please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Having bought a ruined farmhouse in Spain, intending to turn it into a holiday home, Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie call in a vital expert – an electrician.
To read earlier episodes of this venture please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie continue their project - to transform a ruined Galician farmhouse into a perfect rural holiday retreat.
Do please read more about Craig’s new life in Galicia by clicking on Spanish Secrets in the menu on his page.
…We climbed the moss-covered, granite steps to the first floor. Two narrow wooden doors guarded the side entrance. I stared at the small bunch of keys Don Antonio had given us earlier in the day. Right at this moment, a bundle of used bank notes exchanged for four rusty keys, didn’t seem like such a good deal…
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie finally take possession of a run-down farmhouse in rural Galicia.
After more than a year of bureaucratic delay Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie at last acquire a delightful crumbling old ruin of a farmhouse in the Galician countryside.
For more of Craig’s equally delightful columns please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Buying property in Galicia can involve would-be purchasers in the waiting game, as Craig Briggs reveals.
Read more of Craig’s entertaining columns about building a new life in another land by clicking on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…Measuring less than five feet tall and surrounded by tall weeds he reminded me of a Tolkien-like character. Over eighty years of hard work and sunshine had left him with a deep-brown complexion, leathery yet subtle. On his head sat an oversized and well-worn cap which, if it wasn’t for his elephant sized lobes, would have slipped over his head at any moment…
Craig Briggs meets a Galician man with a house for sale – and a deal is done!
…It was early summer and the calm air was hot and stifling. The car’s air-conditioning fought a losing battle with the soaring temperatures, as we turned down another narrow country lane. Large leafy boughs, from majestic chestnut trees, briefly shaded us from the afternoon sun…
Craig Briggs is about to meet with success on the house-hunting trail in Galicia.
For more of Craig’s wonderful articles about his new life in Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on his page.
…His broken and heavily-accented English was always clear and to the point.
“You English?” He asked brusquely, at our first meeting.
“Yes.” I replied.
“I speak English. You want to buy a house? I have a house for sale.”…
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie continue their search for a house which can be developed as a holiday let in Galicia.
For more of Craig’s columns please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…For the past four years we’ve lived in our dream holiday home, enjoying a holiday lifestyle. Unfortunately, holidays can’t last forever. With our cash-flow reduced to a dinero-drip, it was time to take some positive action…
Craig Briggs continues his search to find a property in Galicia which can be renovated and rented out as a holiday home.
For more of Craig’s Galician adventures please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…Field upon field of abandoned trees stood as a testament to a crippling disease sweeping across the province. Rotting fruit hung from unkempt trees which were surrounded by overgrown weeds and more rotting fruit. For the time being this devastating illness is confined to isolated groves, but it is spreading fast. The Costa Blanca is just one more agricultural area suffering the ravages of supermarket savagery…
Craig Briggs tells of a disaster affecting Spain’s orange growers.
….Running between the seafront apartment blocks are a series of dark, thin alleys. Strolling down these paved alleyways is like a voyage with Jules Verne, travelling back in time hundreds of years….
Craig Briggs visits Baiona on Spain’s Atlantic coast, a place where Galicia’s rich and privileged arrive by helicopter for Sunday lunch.
…Spring in Galicia is a time of rejuvenation and new life. Beautiful song birds perform romantic mating rituals. Tiny buntings whistle their song, darting from branch to branch amongst the leafless Spanish oaks. Colourful male finches preen themselves in the hope of luring a young mate. Giant storks loudly clack their long bills and circle the sky in contented pairs…
Craig Briggs welcomes the official ending of winter gloom and is entertained by the antics of a wily old duck.
…With the bedroom door left slightly ajar our dog Jazz bounds into the bedroom and bounces onto the bed. Her excitement and joy is an overwhelming constant -boundless energy always eager to please. It’s a wonderful way to start the day….
But on the day that Jazz was not her usually bouncy self Craig Briggs was reminded that the best things in life should never be taken for granted.
…A heavy wooden door at the entrance stood slightly ajar, a thin sliver of sunlight arrowed across the polished wooden floorboards. Inside it was cool and dark. Old framed photos of ancestral family members hung proudly on the walls and antique furniture lined the hall…
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie stay in a splendid Portuguese manor house, part of which dates back to 1679.
For more of Craig’s delightful columns please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Continue reading "It’s A Game Of Two Halves – Second Half" »
A journey to watch a football match takes Craig Briggs on a drive through some of the most spectacular scenery in Spain and Portugal.
To read more of Craig’s fascinating columns about his new life in Galicia please click on the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs, who is enjoying an idyllic new life in Galicia, explains why he does not buy lottery tickets.
For more of Craig’s colourful columns please click on Spanish Secrets in he menu on this page.
On a rainy Galician day a Spanish journalist, accompanied by a photographer, arrives to interview Craig and Melanie Briggs about their life in Spain.
For more of Craig’s tasty columns please click on Spanish Secets in the menu on this page.
…Roast beef smothered in chopped leek gravy, accompanied by herbed potatoes and bronzed roasted parsnips. We ended the meal with fresh Spanish strawberries, lightly sugared and generously daubed with extra thick cream…
Craig Briggs’s glowing descriptions of the food and wine in his new homeland, Galicia, are guaranteed to awaken the most jaded taste buds.
For more of Craig’s vivid descriptions of his new life please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…Pruning trees in Galicia is not the work of a tree-surgeon but that of a tree-artist. The most common design is a five-pointed star. After pruning, all that remains are five equally spaced branches atop a thick trunk. They spread out like the spokes of a large wheel…
Craig Briggs prunes his sycamore trees then carries out a violent attack on the mother upon whom we all depend.
For more of Craig’s vivid accounts of his life in Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…The importance of the lunar calendar to locals is undeniable but it’s practiced more as a farming tradition than a horticultural science. What I was keen to know was whether these ancient superstitions had any basis in fact. My search began…
Craig Briggs investigates the effects of the moon’s phases on horticulture – and on other things besides.
To share more of the delight that Craig and his wife Melanie derive from their new life in Galicia please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…The fashion industry is an important part of youth culture. By attacking it, the Spanish government could further alienate politically disenfranchised adolescents. As everyone knows, the quickest way to encourage a confident and rebellious young person to do something is to order them not to…
Craig Briggs is unimpressed by an agreement between Elena Salgado, Spain’s Minister of Health, and the fashion industry to limit the portrayal of thinness as being attractive.
For more of Craig’s must-read accounts of life in Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in he menu on this page.
…Children are not restrictively managed but left to express themselves amongst their peers. Parental supervision is liberal and discreet. In the five years since our move from England I have never seen a child reprimanded with a slap. Physical abuse against children is as repulsive to the Spanish as the public slaughter of a bull is to many in England…
Craig Briggs commends the close family ties which exist in Spain.
For more of Craig’s evocative columns about life in his adopted country please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs decided to let the train take the strain to get back his village home in Galicia - only to see the last train of the day to Canabal disappearing down the track.
For more of Craig’s tasty accounts of his new life in Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…The day’s celebrations began early for us with a trip to the supermarket. Three Kings simply wouldn’t be Three Kings without a chunk of Rosca. This traditional Christmas cake resembles a large, holed doughnut. Once baked it’s sliced into two halves and filled with cream, custard, or in our case a glutinous apple jelly. It’s topped with sweet candied fruits and sprinkled with sugar…
In this tasty column Craig Briggs allows us to share in the wonder and delight of a Spanish Christmas,
...Plump pork sausages sizzled in a large frying pan. A chilled glass of fruit juice and a piping hot sausage sandwich smothered with HP sauce, warm sunshine and a stunning Mediterranean panorama - now that’s what I call Christmas...
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie savour Christmas in Spain.
...The marina was crowded with ocean-going motor cruisers; floating palaces of the rich and famous. Several of these were surely large enough to be classified as ships. Prestigious marques front the narrow quayside like an international motor show. Open topped Bentley Continentals, Maseratis and within the space of 100 metres, three gleaming-red Ferraris.
Mingling among the hoards of camera-snapping tourists are designer people wearing designer clothes. The correct badges of exclusivity mark them out from the rest of us mortals. Well groomed pooches nestle underarm or quiet babies hang casually from hip and forearm like designer rag dolls...
Craig Briggs visits one of the Costa del Sol playgrounds of the super-rich, and is far from impressed by what he sees there.
For more of Craig's engaging words about life in his own choice area of Spain, rural Galicia, please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…After a few minutes I rose cautiously to my feet. With the exception of my big toe, everything seemed in one piece. The following day I was black, blue and a rather regal shade of purple. My arms were cut and grazed, my back hurt, my ribs ached, my right hip was sore and my right foot so swollen footwear was out of the question…
Poor Craig Briggs takes a tumble and is now heading into a colourful Christmas of the unwelcomed kind. However his keen sense of humour will guanatee that he still enjoys the festive season.
Light is dawning. Craig Briggs is finding that at last he can carry on a half-hour conversation in Spanish. "It’s incredible how much easier everyday chores become with improved communications,'' he adds.
To read many more of Craig's wonderful, colourful columns about his new life in Galicia please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs pays an unplanned visit to the city of Astorga and "discovers'' a masterpiece of a building designed by the renowned Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi.
...We’re now stocked up with our adult winter-warmer, a rich sweet treat on dark cold nights...
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie have this year added a new delight to their wine cellar - home-made café liqueur. And who minds spending wet and windy autumn days in the garden clearing up a carpet of decaying leaves if there's such a treat in store when labour's done?
...Here in Spain, our national telephone provider is Telefonica SA. They also have worldwide business interests in 36 other countries; it’s truly a global company...
So why oh why, with millions of customers worldwide, did Telefonica SA pick on Craig Briggs and snatch forty euros from his bank account?
For more of Craig's entertaining words about life in rural Galicia please click on Spanish Secrets in he menu on this page.
"The roads were filthy, buildings were grubby and the countryside dirty. The air was filled with the constant drone of traffic. Peace and quiet was a rapidly fading memory. Like a Lowry painting, people shuffled along the pavement, shoulders hunched and heads lowered...''
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie pay a brief return visit to England following a family bereavment - and Craig is not the least bit impressed by the crowded island of his birth.
Craig Briggs, having gathered in this year’s crop of grapes, hypothetically considers the distillation of aguardiente, a Galician fire-water.
To read more about Craig’s idyllic rural life please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Hartley’s blackcurrant jam, Paxo sage and onion stuffing, Bisto gravy granules, tomato puree and lean British bacon rashers… Not the things, if you’re a Brit, that you would buy and take home from a holiday on Spain’s Costa Blanca. That is unless you are Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie, true Brits through and through, who live in rural Galicia, where English titbits are unavailable.
For more of Craig’s columns about life in his rural corner of heaven please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
As summer draws to a close in Galicia, Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie travel south, bound for a holiday where the clear, blue Mediterranean Sea laps gently onto sandy beaches.
For more of Craig's colourful descriptions of life in Spain please click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs goes impressively Shakespearian as he considers the big question: TV - to be, or not to be.
Reading Craig's words brings guaranteed delight. Craig and his wife Melanie are leading lives in rural Galicia that would be the paradise dream of many a million wage slaves. To see more of his enticing words click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…Pablo walked calmly across the stable and picked it up. Holding it firmly under one arm he brought it to show us. A tiny bundle of flesh and bones held together in an oversized coat of close-cropped wool. I extended my hand to stroke its head. Instinctively it tried to suckle on my finger…
Craig Briggs tells the story of Missy, a lamb rejected by its mother.
For more of Craig’s glowing accounts of life in rural Galicia please visit Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie are woken from their slumbers to solve a neighbour's water crisis.
To read more of Craig's wonderfully evocative articles about life in the depths of rural Galicia click on Spanish Secrets in he menu on this page.
In a scorching hot Galician September preparations for the grape harvest and wine making are well under way, as Craig Briggs reveals.
To read more of Craig’s tempting articles about life in rural Spain click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on his page.
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie dine with the lord of the manor on a special feast day – a day of generous hospitality and high delight.
For more of Craig's delicious columns about life in Galicia click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
"Down the leafy lanes and dusty tracks near our Galician home there are a multitude of centuries-old treasures waiting to be discovered,'' says Craig Briggs. One of these is the church at San Fiz de Cangas, and who better to lead Craig and his wife Melanie on a tour of this historic building than the daughter-in-law of the Keeper of the Keys.
The battle lines have been clearly drawn. Jazz the dog and an array of glittering CDs are essential to the defences. To find out who the enemy is read Craig Briggs's exuberant report from the front line in Galicia.
To read more of Craig's colourful columns click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
A lethal combination of parched undergrowth and high winds has resulted in uncontrollable fires raging across Galicia, as Craig Briggs reports. Last Friday there were 111 fires, 84 of which were said to be out of control.
Craig Briggs relishes the opportunity to go touring and exploring along Galicia's uncrowded roads.
To read more of Craig's delicious accounts of life in an uncrowded corner of Spain click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie savour a tasty reward after a frustrating morning of form-filling.
For more of Craig's colourful and evocative accounts of life in Galicia click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Continue reading "A Vigilante's Paralogism - (Madre Dios!)" »
Baking-hot juicy sardines. Finger-licking bacon sizzling in a hot pan…
Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie attend a family and friends barbecue, Galician-style. And the mouth-watering way in which Craig describes the experience gives you the measure of pure bliss.
…Long hot days drift effortlessly into relaxing weeks. Time floats by almost unnoticed…
Craig Briggs enjoys Galicia’s tranquil summer months – and the freedom to live as he chooses.
For more of Craig’s luscious accounts of his life in Spain click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
This is fiesta season in Spain, and the nights are filled with the sounds of fireworks and music. Craig Briggs joins in the fun.
Craig Briggs sees his small kitchen garden as a colourful, wonderful work of art. But strange things are happening at the garden's edge. Could goblins be involved?
Craig Briggs now has a different perspective on an English “hero’’ after visiting A Coruna.
To read more of Craig’s vivid accounts of life in Galicia click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
…A glass of chilled white wine, a delicious scarlet-red strawberry and a golden-orange sunset accompanied by natures wildlife chorus – the ideal way to end the day…
First there are days of sticky 100 degree heat, then comes a storm, then life continues on its delightful way in Craig Briggs’s quiet corner of Galicia.
“…the tiniest sip had my head spinning and my throat, lungs and stomach feeling like I had swallowed a velvet-lined hot-water bottle…’’
Craig Briggs samples the delights of aguardiente, a Spanish spirit distilled from the remnants of wine production.
For more of Craig’s tasty columns click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
Craig Briggs describes the allure of one of his favourite Spanish cantinas. Weathered granite walls, rolling hills, deep green forests, an icy-cold beer - ah the bliss of Galicia!
“1966 was a remarkable year in English history. Not only did Sir Alf and the boys show the rest of the world how to play football, but a little- known couple from Huddersfield surpassed even that marvellous achievement.
On 17 May 1966 Geoff and Jennifer Kidd produced Melanie Jayne
On the fortieth anniversary of this miracle, I’d like to invite you to celebrate this wonderful event with me and other much loved family and friends at the Nawaab Indian restaurant in Huddersfield…’’
Craig Briggs planned a splendid birthday surprise for his wife, Melanie, which involved a traumatic journey from Galicia, Spain, to Yorkshire, England.
Continue reading "Breakfast In Spain And An Indian For Tea" »
Craig Briggs writes of two splendid, hard-working village folk, his neighbours Chuchi and Teresa.
For the real Spain, for a taste of village life that is far removed from the glitz and clatter of the Costas, read more of Craig’s columns. Click on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
“…The pruned grape vines are now showing signs of life. Tiny lilac and green buds cling to the dry vines before bursting open into leaf. Microscopic bunches of grapes have appeared nestling among the tiny leaves.’’ ‘Tis the season in Galicia for Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie to enjoy their first barbecue of the year.
…Ancient rocky outcrops, weathered by time, stand like stone sculptures in an art gallery… Craig Briggs and his wife Melanie drive through the spectacular heart of Galicia, then cross the border to lunch in the Portuguese fortress town of Valenca.
For the real flavour of Spain, and Portugal, read more of Craig's columns by clicking on Spanish Secrets in the menu on this page.
The sad winter landscape is being re-painted in much brighter colours. Craig Briggs reports “Adding to this colourful palette are the crimson and purple tulips we planted earlier in the year. Their petals greet the rising sun by spreading open. As the sun fades they close like praying hands.’’
Craig writes so colourfully and appealingly about the part of Spain where he lives that he makes you want to instantly catch the first’plane heading for Iberia.