The Year of the Tortoise

 

Jane’s potted history of Las Tortugas

 

For many years we dreamed of having a B&B like the many super ones we have visited in France. We first came to Almería in 1999 and liked the area so much that we bought a large plot near the village of Bédar and began the long-winded and frustrating process of getting permission to build our dream house on rustic land.

 

A year or so later we decided that commuting every few weeks from the UK to our apartment in Mojácar to push the process forward was just too wearing and that we needed to be in Almería full time if anything was going to happen. However within a couple of months of making the permanent move to Almería, Terry was in need of A PROJECT while waiting for the new build to begin.

 

We really went looking for something small to do up and we were not really looking in Vera, but when we saw Las Tortugas, we fell hopelessly in love with it. It was twice the size we wanted for a project, but not only did it have a great location, near the new golf course at Valle del Este and yet just ten minutes from the beach at Garrucha and Vera, but also it would make a great B&B should the house in the hills never happen. Four years of hard work later we finally welcomed our first B&B guests early in 2006.

 

Although most of our B&B customers are from the UK, they also come from as far away as Italy and Holland, and while most arrive as strangers, we like to feel they have all left as friends and the repeat booking seem to bear this out. The new house is finally nearing completion but I resolutely refuse to move until it is completely ready inside and out as four years of living in a construction site is quite enough, so we will continue to take B&B bookings at Las Tortugas until July of 2008 at least. We have put so much of ourselves into this house that leaving will be quite a wrench, so we are not in a big hurry.

 

Our experiences of buying and selling land and property in Almería, as well as that of many of our friends, make us a good source of information. If you are in search of a property, particularly in the Vera, Mojácar, Garrucha or Bédar areas, I speak good enough Spanish to help you out with contacts you might not be able to manage on your own. Often the most useful information when you are new to an area is who NOT to trust or where NOT to buy.