Arriving in style - our new carpark

​Every year or two, the local government offers subsidies for bed and breakfast businesses to help them modernise their properties and offer a better service for their guests. Submitting an application involves a lot of paperwork, but we feel it’s an opportunity we don’t want to miss, and so we eagerly await those grants. We have so many plans for our bed and breakfast, we’ll probably never run out of ideas. And our carpark was one such idea.

​Initially, the carpark was simply a space about 10 metres from the house. Paul’s uncle David had come up with the idea of using broken chunks of concrete (left behind by the builders) as huge tiles, so we had them laid out, filled the grouting with gravel and built a low stone wall at each end. It looked better, but it wasn’t anything our guests would write home about.

Still, it served its purpose while we focused on other, more important investments, for example building the summer kitchen, installing a swimming pool and reinforcing stone walls. But, it was the first thing our guests experienced, and as they say, first impressions count.

​Now, we don’t think our guests were necessarily shocked when they arrived, after all, we do live in the country and you can’t expect every road and lane to be asphalted. Still, the time had come to do something about it.

So, we waited for the next grant to come out and presented our designs for the parking area. Lo and behold, the grant was approved (champagne all round!) and at last the carpark and the carport were built.

​The problem was solved, but only partially, because the space in front of it was still full of gravel and the whole area looked rather like a half-finished job. And if there’s one thing Paul can’t stand, it’s an unfinished job!

Unfortunately, we couldn’t wait for the next grant to come out. The place really looked unsightly, and so we were happy to splash out for having the space surfaced with cement.

​It was the case of a lesson learned. Always think it through before applying for a grant, or else expect to pay for any add-ons that you come up with later.  We could probably write a book on appying for grants in Spain now!

​However, before having it surfaced, we wanted to have one final chat with our neighbour Manolo, to see if he would let us access our Finca across his land. It would mean ‘giving us’ a 5m-wide strip at the end of his finca.

​Luckily for us, this time he agreed to a deal (you can read about it here), and we now have a super-wide driveway and a shaded carpark to welcome our guests. Now we’re sure that ever-so-important first impression really is the best it can be.
 
¡Hasta pronto!