Buying and renovating a rural property on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees

Well done PB – glad your stuff is coming together!

Yesterday we had a meeting with our architect, Pedro Miguel. He went over our Building License with us (3 A4 pages of legal Spanish, obviously) to check that everything is in order. There were no surprises. We have to start the project within a year and finish within three years of the license being issued. If we need an extension after that we can apply for one – that’s quite common. The property should be built “as shown on our drawings”. Published safety guidelines must be followed by the contractor on site. Don’t unduly interfere with the neighbours etc.

Of course we now have a fee to pay – calculated as a percentage of the cost of the total works. A percentage of this fee is government tax.

In some cases the percentage of tax can be reduced – “for rehabilitation of ancient buildings that fall within special council guidelines”. Our building is not special in that way (although it is very special to us) so we get no reduction. On the plus side though, buildings that fall under that “special” heading with the council can only have certain modifications made to them. We would rather pay the full fee and get the finish we want than pay a little less tax but not be allowed to do “this or that” with our building. . . .

Always enjoy reading these updates. The Zona-Zero video was good too, featured the bridge above.

Yes – the bridge is very close to the deserted village which also features I several Zona Zero videos.

Glad you’re enjoying the posts 🙂

We need to take out a loan to help with the building costs of converting our “Barn” into a home and B&B business, so we had to employ an independent financial assessor to assess the property. He looked at the property some months ago but couldn’t finish the assessment without planning permission being granted.

Now that we have planning permission he has finished the assessment and we talk to our first bank on Monday morning.

Meanwhile this weekend we must go though the builders quotes we have received and compare them . . . .

🙂

Keep up the good work Spekkie, I read these with jealous interest, se ve fantistico!

Cheers surfer!

It’s been a funny old week in Cataluña. The weather has been lovely, clear blue skies but cold at night so the new fire has had a good workout. The house is lovely and warm despite having the insulation properties of a plastic bag. The solar power setup is working well and there’s no danger of the blackouts we experienced last winter. We harvested our olives on Tuesday and proudly took the sack to the local moli d’oli where the laughing owner turned it into a whole litre of extra virgin oil.
Since leaving our VW camper in the UK to sell, we’ve missed having the option of having the odd night away so today we’ve been to order a new one. The one we’ve decided on is built about 30 minutes away but they don’t sell from the factory so we had to go to the nearest dealer up near Barcelona. They only have 4 allocated to them next year and nothing until May so we took the plunge and ordered one there and then. Hopefully they will ask the factory to make it a bit sooner. It’s a Benimar and a big step up being 6m long and based on the new ford transit chassis. It’s pretty palatial, having a shower and toilet and will mean we can stay on the huge number of free camper areas throughout Spain which are in great locations but don’t have facilities.Can’t wait.

PB – I’ll message you regarding your heating setup. Likewise here – beautiful sunny days but a bit nippy at night. Still comfortable in shorts though 🙂

Camper sounds nice!

Oh – I thought this was another Buckingham Palace thread.

Spanish builders BTW are a whole new world of pain.

Unless you can find a Portuguese one.

We’ve had an interesting week. . . .

On Monday we saw the bank and things are looking fine there. The interest rate for borrowing over here is between 1.5% and 2.5% at the moment.

Then on Tuesday Mrs Spekkie found an interesting website that explained and gave examples of typical contracts between Spanish builders and their clients. Some very useful stuff for us to be aware of.

On Wednesday we had a catch-up meeting with our architect to discuss a few things. We also spoke to him about two additional licences that Mrs Spekkie had read about on the “Contracts” website.

The first is called the “License for first occupation” which is where, at the end of the build, they come and check that the building was built according to the drawings you submitted. The second is called the “License of confirmed functionality” which is the one that checks that the rooms we are building for the B&B part of the house are “fit for purpose”.

They are both either free or have already been paid for when we paid the bill for the Planning Permission Certificate.

Tomorrow we are looking at builders quotes to compare builders . . . decision time 😉

Sounds good, looking forward to seeing the fruit of your labours.
Amazingly our builders turned up on Wednesday to replace some of the wooden beams that support our upstairs lounge and bedroom. The initial thoughts that 6 needed doing were optimistic, in the end 8 1/2 were replaced. We were shocked at the state of the old beams, some were virtually hollow having been eaten from the inside by generations of woodworm. The builder reckoned we were lucky that the ceiling hadn’t come down. I avoided commenting that we had been waiting for them to come since April!
If your plans include having beams, make sure they come treated and give them loads of coats of Xylophene to protect them. A couple down the road from us had a house built from scratch a few years ago and their new beams were infested with worms. They only found out when they started falling out in the middle of the night.

Ainsa Old Town from the Castle Wall. Autumn Sunshine . . .

Will you be submitting that for a Short Film Oscar. More car park next time please 😉 ?

Only teasing, hope all is well. Looks remarkably green but I don’t know the area or climate well.

🙂

Just “pointing and clicking” . . .

Soy celosa 🙂

“Estoy celoso” at a guess, I thought you were male?

Anyway, builders contracts: usual sort of thing is paying something like 10%/40%/40% and hold back 10% until after delivery. And make sure you include some kind of penalty clause if they go over the agreed dates – you’ll end up going over anyway, but it stops them taking the piss.

You can save money if you provide the materials – a builder will charge you 15€/m2 for tiling (for example) but actually get the tiles for 8€, and pocket the difference. If you get them yourself you could probably get them for 10€. Not as cheap as the builder, but cheaper than the quoted rates.

Get local references.

Cheers Mogrim! Duly noted.

Surfer – you’re not the first person to say that 🙂

I spent a couple of days this week working in shorts and a T-shirt with Ramon the Farmer – Splitting and Stacking Firewood from trees he felled and cut up in his Woods at the beginning of the year. The wood had dried nicely during the summer and was fairly easy to split using axes (I bought my big one with me from SA) and a wood splitting Maul (which has a head that is half-axe and half-sledgehammer).

We tractor-trailered the wood back up the hill to below the Farmhouse and stacked it in the wood store. Great fun and very rewarding work. I’d recommend anyone who hasn’t done it to try it!

A few more loads to do next week before the weather finally changes for winter . . . .

Living the dream 🙂

Zona-Zero was host to Stage 7 of the Enduro World Series 2015 🙂

What is Zona-Zero in Ainsa?

This summary from an article on the “BikeMagic” website sums it up nicely . . . .

“There is a small but devoted scene of local mountain bikers, unlike any we are used to in the UK. Riders of all shapes and sizes share the hillside and the sport brings the townsfolk together in riding and maintaining the ever-growing number of trails.

The local government made the forward-thinking decision to signpost and advertise the area as a mountain bike trail centre and it is now growing in popularity amongst Spaniards and foreign tourists alike.

Trails vary from short loops around the town to epic descents from high up in the Pyrenees mountains, which sit as a backdrop to the town. All the rides are clearly detailed on a trail map and are well marked with coloured wooden posts and signs. The longer rides are reasonably arduous but never venture a huge distance from civilisation, so it’s easy to return to town or to a tar road if necessary.

From up high, rocky traces of singletrack negotiate steep mountainsides with an epic backdrop of cliffs and in springtime snow too. These longer trails really are fantastically adventurous and take you on a journey from summit to valley encountering every terrain imaginable in-between, along with tiny traditional hamlets and rest-stops along the way.

Expect dusty rollercoasters down low and sometimes precarious singletrack up high. But above all, be ready for an adventure to remember”

These trails are what we call “Zona-Zero” . . . .

8)

🙂 Hey Tony, we took BikeMagic there to write that article. That was back in… maybe 2010, or 2011? We shot an old video to help promote the area then too, really funny to look back and see that bit of my history. Back then ZZ was pretty much unknown and we were working with the guys to try and help promote it a bit. We did a few days with James there and then some other stuff, including a disasterous trip to “Spanish Utah” where the road was closed and we ended up in a town that was straight out of a B-movie and got ripped off by some hicks. James wrote that up for Dirt in a hilarious column.

Sorry for the slight hijack, a great trip down memory lane! Here´s James shredding. And below a photo (see if you can spot the location) taken back in 2009 on our first trip to the area.

We´ll be there for a couple of weeks in January, hopefully see you for a beer!

That second pic is not far from my house. I see Boltaña town down there in the middle of the pic and Boltaña Castle up on its hill top.

I was talking to Angel the other day about how the place has developed. New trails added all the time. It really is a great place to live.

Nice that you have history here Doug.

Yeah, not far from your house at all! In fact that day we ended up riding past your house on the way back to Ainsa in the near dark because we´d stayed out so long. Or I think we did, if my memory serves me right.

The place has changed so much over the years. More trails, and more people. I´m delighted that they´ve made such a success out of it, they deserve it. I´m proud that we´ve been part of it too, even if it´s just a small part. You´ll be making your own history there too I hope, it certainly seems like you´ve made a fantastic start.

Bookmarking as I think a lot of whats been covered will also be of use to me down in Estapona 🙂

Doug – Once we’re finished we’ll arrange an afternoon coffee & cake stop at our place for you guys 🙂

Palmer77 – the coast is nice down that way. They are having huge floods at the moment though, in and around Malaga. Shout if you have any questions . . .

Today has been our cycle club social event. Met in a very foggy Mora D’Ebre at 9am then 20 or so rode up into the mountains for about an hour. Once up there a hill climb had been arranged over a 3km gravel and Singletrack course rising about 250m to an ermita. It was a mass start and I was quite pleased to come in 5th. It was quite chilly at the top so we rode a few metres down to a little summer house owned by 1 of the club where we had hot chocolate with cake and biscuits, followed by coffee and Brandy! 1st prize was a cured ham joint that you see for sale everywhere at this time of year. The ride back down to Mora was a bit hairy but incident free.
We’ve been really lucky to find a group of riding buddies to show us round and accept us even though our grasp of Catalan is still poor.
Last week we were both presented with trophies by the local village ajuntament, me for my exploits on the CAT700 and Mrs PB for coming second in the area Trail Running champs.
Tony, what is the likely timescale for your renovation, are you hoping to be operational next Summer?

The plan is to be open by the Spring PB. Meeting with Bank, Architect and Builder this week to put the final plans in place.

Coffee and cake in spring. I´ve got that in the calendar!

Re the above tile prices recified porcelain i paid c 9e m2 in spain, i am in uk at the moment and seeing the same for about 30 gbp m2. They are made in castellon so i suppose transport must cost a fair bit. If you want a lot best speak to the factories direct. Be aware of adhesive costs too, only 4e per 25kg bag but you get through loads.

Good luck in the refurb btw, i really fancy a cycle tour of the area so will keep in touch on fb.

spekkie – Member
Doug – Once we’re finished we’ll arrange an afternoon coffee & cake stop at our place for you guys

Palmer77 – the coast is nice down that way. They are having huge floods at the moment though, in and around Malaga. Shout if you have any questions . . .

Tell me about it 🙂 We’ve been here since the end of August, and the last two weeks have been very wet!!! I’ve not been out on the mountain trails yet, as I sold my MTB before we moved here, doing loads on the road though, much hillier than Bedfordshire lol

I recognise the trail in the lower pic, it’s not far from French guide Pierre’s place. Advice to anyone riding there: Leave the hartail at home, 150mm is not too much travel, take plenty of water and expect to feel thoroughly rattled at the end of the day. The first pic is unusually smooth.

We were there for the Enduro in September 2015. I first rode across the Sierra de Guarra in August 1995 – not a good idea.

The Estate Agent, Pilar Maria, who showed us the property that we ended up buying, shares an office with an architect (Pedro Miguel) who gives advice to people like us who buy properties that need either restoration work (as in the case of someone buying an old house in an abandoned village) or, as in our case (with it being a barn conversion) – a major design change.

When we first saw the property with Pilar Maria it was a Tuesday morning in June 2015. I fell in love with it when I saw it and so she arranged a meeting for us with Pedro Miguel for the next morning so that we could discuss what was possible “design wise” with the property. Wendy and I went back again to the property on our own that evening to have another look at the property “before tomorrows meeting” and we actually decided that it was too bigger project – too much work – and that there were too many obstacles in getting it turned into something we could live in and use for the B&B business that we wanted to start.

The next morning we met with Pedro Miguel and we went through our long list of reasons why we should not buy and renovate the property. One by one PM was able to reassure us and dismiss our problems with sensible answers – not as someone who was desperate to “push a sale through” but as someone who really wanted to help us get to where we wanted to go.

This week we have had what was probably our last meeting with PM before the building work finally starts after Christmas.

As well as producing a full set of around 30 construction drawings/plans for the property and a 138 page “Execution of Project” document that covers literally every aspect of the project – from the exact details of the very first old existing wall that needs knocking down to the quality specification of the final coat of paint in the kitchen, and everything in between – PM has assisted us with a myriad of other things . . .

He and Pilar Maria helped us find somewhere to store our furniture before it arrived. When the furniture truck turned up he was there to help us negotiate with the driver to take our belongings to a different location than the one on the shipping contract and then he helped us unload the truck and store our stuff. He has acted as translator for us dozens of times – when we’ve had difficult meetings with neighbours to sort out various issues that have come up and for things totally unrelated with our project. He has checked and translated official documents for us, he came to the bank with us and he came to the council with us to help push our planning application through. He has been the “calm person” standing with two quite often not very calm people (even more so as time plodded on and we seemed to be getting nowhere!) and he has managed to slowly but steadily get us to where we are now.

It’s easy to forget how much help someone has given you – above and beyond anything they were ever obliged to give you, but I was reminded of it this week at our final “pre-build meeting” when an IT chap came into the office to sort out a computer problem and PM introduced us as “my friends, Tony & Andrea”. . . .

🙂

This thread is always an enjoyable read

Totally agree about going above and beyond. When we had the solar power upgraded, I asked the guy if he could recommend someone to fit a tow bar, he has a friend with a garage and we got a price which was the most competitive by some margin. When you have a tow bar fitted in Spain, the car has to go to the MOT station to have it checked and the log book is amended. This isn’t really a job for the garage that fitted it but he came with me, together with the solar guy as translator, and spent 2 hours sorting out the paperwork to get the matriculation. I would be really struggling to do this myself.
It works both ways. Back in the spring, we lent a friend of Mrs PB her TT bike to do her first Ironman, every time we see her parents in the village, it’s hugs and kisses, they own a Moli D’Oli and we often get gifts of Olive oil, honey and suchlike. I don’t think Catalans do standoffish

Thanks Jamba.

It’s nice, isn’t it PB.

Good news building is starting. I will be back in spain mid jan i will deffo cycle your way when the days get a bit longer. It will be road touring though. Good luck wth the builders.

Keep me posted Poolman.