New blog post, 17 Mar 2025, Reijer Staats
The sun always shines in Spain
The weather has been stormy for days. It's zigzagging through our living room, where the laundry from our casas hangs, drying painfully slowly. Such an un-Spanish spell of rain reminds me of the confinamiento during the pandemic, in our first year as emigrants, now five years ago. Then we were stuck indoors – now Jeanette and Paul, friends from the Netherlands, suggest going for a walk.
A wet and slippery mountain hike doesn't seem like a good idea, so I suggest an alternative: the simple coastal path, a walk of about two hours, from Salobreña via La Caleta to a hidden bay where mysterious stone cairns are piled up. I send a message: "10:00 at the panadería in La Caleta. Let's start the walk properly with breakfast. See you soon!"
Leaving home – in shorts, since despite the rain 20°C is forecast – I see that the rambla where we live has already turned into a fast-flowing little river. However, in front of the panadería on the empty terrace in La Caleta, I find two smiling faces: one under the white hood of her rain jacket, the other beneath his now soaked baseball cap. We rush into the bakery's basement, past the dripping umbrellas in the bucket by the entrance, and carefully down the wet stairs.
The basement's upper windows are fogged up and under white fluorescent light, between stacks of barras de pan and the L-shaped counter with sweet pastries, stands the ever-friendly señora of the panadería – wearing a pink fleece, a white apron over it, beaming with pride in her shop: "Buenos días. Qué tomáis?"
Before we decide what to have, I look around for a place to sit: against the wall are only two tables pushed together, and at the left end a caballero is already chewing his tostada. The rest of the space is taken up by two wonky IKEA Billy shelves displaying local vegetables & fruit and essentials like washing powder and Coca-Cola. Between the counter and the caballero stands a mechanical payment machine, like those you might remember from buffet restaurants in the 1980s – in any case, a cumbersome bulky device for this small space. This one, installed during the first corona period, with a sliding tray for change, certainly takes up room that could fit an extra table.
We join the caballero. For the chocolate pastry, croissants, espresso and two manchadas (tip: order this if you want a regular cappuccino without cream in Andalusia!) I finally pay €8. My €50 note slides into the machine after two attempts and returns €42 in change neatly.
This walk remains a favourite – even in the rain! Fishermen in yellow rain capes along the coastal path and the hanging wet branches of the blooming mimosa add colour. Rainwater flows off the terracotta roof tiles and over the whitewashed rounded façades of old villas along the route, and in the bay await the stone cairns. Under the pine trees we find some shelter – and the pine processionary caterpillar!
They cross our path neatly in a row. I immediately lift our Mèlo up. Oops, my bare legs now come into contact with the caterpillars' tiny invisible stinging hairs. And that will leave a mark…
Jeanette and Paul fly back to sunny Netherlands. The following weekend, nearly birthday boy Johan and I explore the city of Almería and recall memories in the beautiful Cabo de Gata. We're lucky with the clearing weather, and our local Airbnb host Gino thinks, or hopes, that we might invest in his city. But Gino, we definitely won't. Back home in Almuñécar we celebrate Johan's birthday in style, with amigos at Restaurante El Maño, a fantastic new find.
Now I'm enjoying some me-time. Johan is busy elsewhere with new guests. Gardening around Villa Merise, with my face in the sun, a coffee in hand and looking out over the coastal path, I realise that recently, everywhere I went, people must have wondered why this visibly nervous hombre was scratching his legs and groin so shamelessly. I look down again. Under my shorts, two bright red legs covered in bumps itch like mad. Unfortunately, all the Spanish creams I've used haven't helped yet.