Latest from Laurdan

Hi all, arrived home yesterday after spending two weeks in our new home. This time we treated it as a holiday and spent a fantastic two weeks there. The development is coming to life daily, families are moving in or apartments are being let to holidaymakers and the pools are being used all day and there is at long last life blooming in Arenal Duquesa. I don’t know where to start as so much to tell.

OK, our snagging is almost complete apart from the air con which I have been told will be completed on my next visit. The sat TV went down on Wednesday had a word with Tom who suspects that it maybe our digi-box or that due to more people moving in and using the dish it may require a booster to send the signal to all the apartments in our block. Those are the only negatives for me. The development is beautiful and the gardeners are there daily working and keeping the place looking great in the areas that are occupied. The snagging team are friendly and keen to complete your snagging, but I would recommend you are there to oversee the work, most jobs are dusty/messy and no one tidies as you do yourself and you need to be there to tell them exactly what you want. Now for the Penoncillo Road! I viewed the road on the first day and last day of the holiday and it is moving painfully slow, there is still an enormous amount of work to be completed on the road surface, the bottom end of the road still requires building up to be level with the top half of the road, which is now tarmac and used for access to Manilva and the ‘Coto Real’ Development. There was a team of men 3-4 working with one digger, but it needs to be flooded with work force to make it happen on a quicker basis. There are 2/3 weeks left of July, if it is to be completed then I will be shocked. I have taken pictures that I will upload today showing the bottom end of the road and the competed top end. I don’t want to say a lot more about the road as I am not qualified on road construction, so have a look at the photos and make your own decisions. But in my humble opinion I will be amazed if it is completed for July.

Now for the good things to tell, it is a great holiday destination. Firstly the weather is hot, hot, hot and I was loving it. The restaurants and bars in the port are a buzz with activity and it is lovely to stroll around Duquesa and Sabbi and feel life going on outside. The evenings are balmy and people sit outside their homes playing cards/dominoes or just chatting. We spent most of our days on the beach, walking and playing beach games, the sea temperature is warm and the beach is not packed, you can even find yourself a nice quiet spot if you want to, or a lively spot in the middle where all the families and teens get together. We went to the Roman Baths a few times, enjoyed the sulphur swims and rubbed the mud over our bodies, a natural spa and free!! The boys went out on a sea fishing trip and managed to bring home the tea that day. The day we arrived Spain had won the European Cup and we were able to enjoy the celebrations in Manilva, it was crazy, cars everywhere with the hooters going and people everywhere flying the Spanish flag and rejoicing. Nadal won Wimbledon a week later so a good Spanish sporting two weeks we picked. We took a couple of trips to Gibraltar/La Linea and the ‘Feria’ in Estepona that went on to the early hours of the morning last weekend. The nights are long this time of year and we found ourselves becoming very laid back and relaxed. The apartment shutters are great as they block out the light and I slept a beautiful sleep every night. I am home now feeling refreshed and counting the days to my return next month.

Arenal Duquesa is a great holiday destination, everything is accessible and a car is not a necessity. When we placed our deposit four years ago, we had our dreams on how we would fulfil them, so now we can tick one of our items off our bucket list. Lastly, a big hello to all we met the last two weeks, if we continue to met people like you, we shall have a great community.

Tracey and Ricky