Permission Granted

This is the land behind the house, rocky and rugged with king cactus, olive and plum trees and wildflowers, needs landscaping....any takers??

As I write a wry smile is on my lips. After emailing Daniel my project manager about my frustration about the tardy permission approval and whether we can just carry on regardless with the rebuild, he replied to say the town hall has today granted full approval. Yabba Dabba Doo!!! We can begin. Anyone involved in renovations will know the sometimes lengthy process involved with plans being revised and resubmitted especially in England where it can take years. It has actually taken about 5 months here in Almeria, Spain since the architects plans were first submitted and its been relatively painless albeit slightly frustrating as I have Dave ready and waiting to help in Valencia as well as Daniel here in Albox.

But first rule of Renovation Club is if you are going to do it, do it LEGAL as in Almeria there are the worst examples of fleeced expats who thought they were all legalled up till finding their new villa was built on rustico land and not urban. Buildings and land should be on urbanised land with a full escritura recognised by the land registry. Then for renovations get full architects plans authorised by town hall and pay all TAXES. This is what prospective buyers will want to see. Even after doing all this you should feel reasonably safe and certain but there is always a small element of doubt as we all know how corrupt some of the town halls are, it goes all the way to the top. But as Albox has had a bad reputation my theory is that now they will be more transparent in their transactions as they have drawn so much attention to themselves.

The story of Dave in relation to his helping me on the cortijo has been getting increasingly complex and convoluted. He is helping an Irish couple near him him renovate their flat while at the same time he is in the process of selling his house. The house is now sold with Dave having to offload his furniture to the Irish couple and some to me whilst also trying to decide his next move. With his girlfriend in the process of moving from Mexico to Valencia to see him she could find him (and her) homeless. Does he move to Almeria in readiness for my forthcoming work, no not yet I said, as permissions arent ready (well they are now) or does in hang on in Valencia to finish off his house move and help the Irish and greet the girlfriend? With me so far? As always in life things come together when they are supposed to not when you want them to. So its looking like the pieces are falling into place starting today. Daves house is now sold, hes out in two weeks then he can truck a vanload of furniture down to me in Oria and look for a place to rent for a few months near the cortijo so we can crack on. He is in charge of rewiring and plumbing and kitchen fitting downstairs whilst upstairs Daniel is doing some creative demolishing and rebuilding a large winter lounge with fireplace, outside patio area and spacious bathroom. As for me I will be stripping old wooden doors and windows and co-ordinating proceedings. It all sounds good in theory and shouldnt be too drastic especially compared to the Fes mission which involved 5 stories, 5 bathrooms 2 kitchens and endless stress but thats another story, refer to http://www.louis-fes.blogspot.com/ for 150 pages of fun and games.