Day 26. Wednesday 2 April.

Today’s road took us into the Parque National y Natural de Sierra Nevada, negotiating the digital-blue-spaghetti-screen line past the skiers & down the southern canyon side to the sea.

T chatted with a recently retired motor-cyclist (Dutch) out for a glorious ride who mentioned the solar & wind farms below…bringing far more income than agriculture & an indulgent lifestyle.

When T mentioned her surprise at how strong the religious traditions seemed to be, given this is 2025, his take was ‘the Spanish have nothing better to do but their fiestas’. Interesting take. There is definitely an air of leisure/not bothering/not-employed & crumbling urban stuff abounds – but we are not, of course, seeing the whole picture. T reflected on the story of power/ wealth/conquest & the Dutchman mentioned 2025 Putin/Ukraine….nothing has changed. 

Moving on in search of a coffee, eventually finding a bar in Torvizcon, a crumbling village & the only other customer (beer-time for this ex- Belgian) explained how the almond orchards planted on vertical land are worthless now since mechanical harvesting methods in USA & Australia mean that it’s not viable to farm almonds here (terrain can only be accessed by human labour) & villages have been deserted by young people. 

There are huge plastic enclosures throughout the mountains, presume that any piece of land remotely flat (or that can be flattened) is identified for vegetable growing…tomatoes, peppers, melons, beans….anything that appears on fruit-shop shelves.

Lunch break was in Orgiva at a halal cafe & although D was craving chips – spotted on nearby table, and not all eaten – the Shawarma or for T the vegetarian alternative was plenty. No beer either, not even non-alcoholic.

Excellent autovia & tunnels brought us down to sea level (Costa del Sol) & to Frigiliana (a small village behind Nerja). National roads are fantastic, so some folk are employed!

D had been in text contact with Lucia & advised of 1600 arrival…we got in at 1555 & waited. Around 1630 Lucia & husband Sebastian arrived to welcome us: Sebastian a little apologetic that Lucia doesn’t look at her screen constantly but it was a non-issue – we had time to relax after our long drive. 

While D unpacked the car all by himself (poor boy) an intensive language class followed (T on the receiving end this time) with T & L & S chatting about where the water comes from (rivers seem dry like central Oz) but there is plenty of local water, one dam supplying for domestic/urban & another for agriculture including the avocado orchard that they manage. One tree supplies their household & other young trees have been established by grafting from this. T asked about fresh herbs and the absence of them in markets & supermarkets. Lucia pointed out the fresh mint planted beside the driveway.

D has investigated where to assess the condition of rear passenger tyre injured in a too-sharp turn when leaving Guadix this morning, so presume that is first task tomorrow. (Confirmed). Sebastian has given a big tick to the local tyre place. But this situation is Italy redux, where the replacement of an injured tyre became a saga over about a week. We can only hope.

Aldi & an escalator(!) took us to essential re-supply of real milk. Tapas on the mirador, with seaview and a glass of something refreshing is hard to take!

Dinner. Chicken Surprise with mash (and some greens, no doubt).