ONCE UPON A TIME :EL PERELLÒ
JENNIFER FIGUEROLA
El Perellò is a village in the Baix Ebre region, reached by the N340 and now the AP-7. It actually began existence as an old hospital in the 14th century, although there is also evidence of prehistoric life in the area. There are stone remains which have been found to date back 15,000 years.
A Roman settlement was discovered with the now famous rock paintings of ‘Cabra Feixat’, which has received the World Heritage designation. Then, in 1953, the ‘Cova de la Mallada’ was discovered, with many artefacts, including arrowheads with tops of silex. There are other remains, such as part of the Via Augusta Roman road and bridges.
Other impressive monuments include the Tower ‘Torro del Moros’, (MoorishTower), the Shrine of Sant Cristofel and El Coll de les Forques, (The Forked Pass). The old hospital suffered many attacks and battles, yet managed to recover every time.
El Perellò is in fact very privileged as it has the advantage of the combination of sea and mountains. Views out to sea are stunning and it is in the perfect location to view the Delta.
There are no less than 5 beaches, 4 pebble beaches and one sandy beach ‘Cala Moros’, (Moors Bay). The water is crystal clear, reflecting the magnificent backdrop of the mountain landscape above the village.Nowadays the village is lively and well populated, with a growing number of ex pats settling in and around the village. The population count in 2009 topped 2500, although I am unsure how this statistic was actually calculated, and if it includes those who have second homes.
During my very first week in Cataluña, wandering through the little alleyways of L’Ampolla, exploring the village, I chanced upon the School of Language, run by Tony and Jan. At the time, alone in the area and so far without friends or acquaintances, I was relieved and so thankful that they were both so welcoming.
Tony invited me to attend the next practice of his singing group, The Decibels, in order to meet other people and enjoy singing together. The rehearsals, he informed me, took place in the next village along the N340, El Perellò.
It was the beginning of another rewarding period in my life that I will always remember as beginning in the school hall, in the village of El Perelló. The other choir members, maybe 25 or 30 all told, of various nationalities, welcomed me warmly, and I managed to join in with the singing and really enjoy it. Coffee in the local bar afterwards sealed a few first acquaintances, and in the following months we sang at various churches and locations with great reviews.
Not all the choir members actually live in El Perellò, but those that do are all interested in getting involved and enhancing the local community as much as possible. There is a Freesia Group, a charity for Cancer in Spain, that does a huge amount of fund-raising, and many ex-pats are actively involved in arranging activities to this end.
I decided to chat to new friends of mine, who I shall call John and Jane Doe, who have settled in El Perellò.
Now retired, they are enjoying life in their Spanish home and have no plans to return to the UK.
Why Spain? Why El Perellò?
We chose Spain to be closer to our daughter, who lives in Zaragoza. In fact in 2002, we made several trips to Spain to test pilot the area. We wanted to be near the coast, so we drew a line on the map, from Zaragoza to the East coast, which resulted in us looking around here. We were principally looking at plots of land in quite remote areas, listening to friends and estate agents, all advising us of the benefits of a beautiful casita surrounded by acres of your own land, etc…..
WE WERE COMPLETELY smitten by the image of beautiful views and sunsets.
Yet only a small proportion of these plots were blessed with water and electricity. ‘Absolutely no problem’, we were assured. Yet, as time went by and we became more familiar with the type of plots that were available, we changed our criteria somewhat, opting to look at land that was within at least walking distance of a village and with water and electricity. This narrowed the search down to just 6 plots of land. We actually found a ‘Casa de Pages’, in El Perellò, up past the windmill, ‘El Molino’, called ‘Mas Torrent’, self-catering accommodation, where we stayed before making the final decision to purchase a plot of land on the edge of the village.
It takes a mere 35 minutes to walk into the centre of the village, and could be hooked up for both water and electricity, and therefore ticked all the boxes.
Stunning views and combined dreams clinched the deal. We considered ourselves very lucky indeed to have found our ideal spot.
So, from plot to home and a whole new life on Spanish soil. How long did the project take?
A year. We settled into our new home in 2003, when I was 60. John lived in the garden, camping out in a little chalet for 12 months, while the work was carried out, until the house was completed.
His Spanish must be pretty good then?
Not at all. He found he had to start learning, and quickly. Pretty interesting, learning builder’s Spanish from Romanians!
The worst time – now we can laugh about it and change that to the best time – was when he tried to get them to alter the height of the kitchen drawers. Instead of ‘cahones’, (drawers), he asked them to raise up their ‘cohones’, (balls)! FORTUNATELY THEY SAW the funny side of it.
So how is your Spanish now, after 7 years here?
Not bad, we get by, certainly not for the want of trying. We both made the decision to try and learn Catalan, rather than Castellano, and signed up for a free course in the village. The first meeting was packed, with around 30 students of varying nationalities. It was daunting, to say the least. The teacher made no attempt to speak English, speaking the whole hour in only Catalan. Literally no one could understand a word. So of course, no one had any confidence to continue, so that by week two, only around 10 people turned up. In fact, we persevered for 2 whole years, but it was a struggle and at the end of it we had nothing really to show for it, we got nowhere.
We then decided to change direction and start learning Castellano, but still don’t get the opportunity on a daily basis to practise, and therefore we are still struggling. Catalan classes are still available free by the Ajuntament, who now employ a mediator to assist the English with any language related problems.
This lady has recently set up a ‘language exchange’ with a local lady, so hopefully I will soon be speaking Spanish fluently.
How do you spend your retirement; are there many facilities in El Perellò?
When we first settled here, there weren’t many other English ex-pats and not much to do. The only thing that seemed to be going on was a line-dancing class, so I joined that for a while. Being interested in yoga, I was disappointed not to find any classes for that, so I started my own up, which still takes place once a month, although it is now run by someone else and not in El Perellò. OVER THE LAST 7 years, there has been a great influx of English and other nationalities, and there is so much more available.
There is Tony’s singing group, The Decibels, which is hugely popular, a Women’s walking group, Badminton in the Sports Pavilion, Dancing groups, including Line Dancing Tuesday afternoons, Art classes, loads of activities in fact. Through the Ajuntament, the council, there is an active ‘Dones’, (Womens) Group, which organises activities for women, including pottery and Keep Fit. Every full moon there is a Meditation group meet, held at the local Junior School.
Unfortunately, like most of the local activities, it begins at 10pm. and involves all forms of meditation, with visitors from all over the world. We have also been privileged to have been invited to the Barrio parties for the past few years. These are traditional neighbourhood parties, held in squares in the village. We were invited to one near to the Hotel Panavera. Long tables are set out, families and groups take their own food to share. The Ajuntament, (council), provide a band, and from midnight, when the party starts, we all eat, drink, dance and party until the small hours. It has really made us feel settled here, to integrate with the locals and feel so welcomed. We have made some lovely English friends too, who we regularly enjoy barbeques, parties, board games or cards and walks with.
Then of course in the summer, there is the facility of the outdoor swimming pool, a facility provided in most villages in Cataluña.
Where do you like to eat out in the village?
‘Subirats’, remains a firm favourite.
They were the ones to provide egg and chips when we felt the need, and proceeded to put sausage, egg and chips on the menu, as more and more Brits came for this dish. I am a vegetarian, which the spanish don’t seem to understand in the same way. If I asked for the vegetarian option, I would often be presented with a dish with ham in it, for example. They don’t seem to class ham or chicken as meat. Since moving here, I have started eating fish, to give me a little more choice.
And the festivals?
There’s the big festival of San Antonio, 15 – 20 January, when horses from all over the region walk three times round the village and are finally blessed at the church. Local people then take their animals to be blessed, which is quite a sight, as there are many different pets, ranging from cats and dogs to guinea pigs and even an iguana.
As part of the San Antonio festivities, held at the end of the olive-picking season, there is a big traditional event which takes place in the Sports Hall. The locals have their own table, where they are given a large bowl and all the ingredients to make ‘Calmant’.
Neat rum is first poured in, then ‘flamed’, or set alight, and finally hot coffee poured on top. This sweet, delicious drink is then passed round to celebrate the end of all their hard work with the olives. The atmosphere is electric, especially when the band begins to play and everyone gets up to dance.
Then there is the Carnival in the spring, with a fantastic procession, with many different events and activities, culminating in the Grand Ball at midnight, which seems to be another feature of the festivals. The village is full of life, everyone turns out to celebrate and take part, although it doesn’t start until 10pm. The firework display is absolutely stupendous.
There’s also a Honey festival, as honey is an important industry here. The beehives are up in the mountains, and often there are group visits into the mountains to see where the honey is made.
Corpus Cristi celebrations take part in June, when the whole village is transformed into a tapestry of flower carpets. In 2009 The Freesia Group were privileged to take part, who worked diligently to present a magnificent British carpet display. The Group have now firmly established themselves as an official Local Group, and will therefore be taking part in and organising many future activities.
The area is renowned for its olives, olive oil and honey. Is there any evidence of this in the village?
Actually there are two original olive presses here. One is in the main street, a working cold press. You can wander in with your olives and get them pressed and be presented with your very own olive oil. They have group visits and special trips, but anyone can go in. It’s so authentic in there, with a huge old-fashioned fireplace in the corner. You are made very welcome, and given free tasting of the oil on little pieces of bread, toasted in front of you over the fire. There is even a free glass of wine.
For those wanting more information, they have made a DVD, which explains how the olive picking area developed into the industry it is today.
So to round up, what are the benefits and drawbacks of life in El Perellò for you?
Sometimes things take an age, for example it took two years to get a working land line installed.
Another drawback is the wind; we should have done our homework more thoroughly. Although I noticed the numerous windmills dotted around, it never actually registered in my brain that this must be for a reason: the amount of wind! We are unfortunately in a sort of corridor, down the River Ebro from Zaragoza, and our plot is in a dip between two hills and hence in the line of many gale force winds. Also, it took ages to get used to the shops being closed in the afternoon, which was frustrating.
Not speaking the language is also a big drawback, especially when we first came to live here, but fortunately we had a lot of help from a Dutch friend. Now if we need help we go to the excellent Problem Surgery held twice weekly in the library. It was set up two years ago by an English woman and a Spanish man.
THE UPSIDE?
Well, we spend a good 80% of our time outdoors, even being able to sit out and have lunch on Christmas Day. And with such fantastic views too. It’s such a privilege. We are most definitely here to stay.
After our chat, I drove over to El Perellò to the wine cellars, ‘Marti’. One of the bonuses of singing in the school with The Decibels, was discovering this little ‘cave’, situated in the square, opposite the Sports Pavilion.
Inside the family-run establishment, huge casks line each side, containing various ports and wines, their aromas wafting strongly in the air. Everything is on tap and sold by the litre, and you take your own containers for them to fill. Prices are simply incredible for the excellent quality for everything on sale, which includes bottled champagne and other wines.
Round the back are huge jars of olives and four different vats of honey, which you can sample at will.
Apparently during the Spanish Civil War, they used to hide Republicans, Catalan freedom fighters, inside the casks, still with wine inside, to stop any bullets penetrating fully, and for authenticity, if the barrels were ever poked, so they would sound full. The bullet holes can still be seen today in those very same casks.
So now I am homeward bound with my monthly stock of their Rioja and two litres of their best port.
My only dilemma this evening? Which one to start on!
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