Blog #Karl Smallman

I grew up in a rural area in North Devon (England) where I lived in three different houses between the ages of nought and 14. I remember that my Dad, from rural South Wales, always had either a garden or a big allotment. Here's my story of how I went from being a novice English gardener to an apprentice Spanish jardinero, despite the challenges: hot sun; ice cold winters; heavy rainfall; pests; exhaustion; poor quality soil.

​The heavy rain and thunderstorms of the last couple of weeks, combined with a lousy infrastructure has left whole areas of the Serrania de Ronda flooded, with roads blocked by rockfalls and houses soaked, gardens waterlogged and frequent power cuts. ​Worse still, a major rockfall has blocked the main route from the Costa del Sol and the towns of San Pedro, Marbella and Estepona to the capital and main town of the Serrania, namely Ronda.

It’s some 15 months since I started my website www.help-me-ronda.com. It has grown and grown and is a pretty comprehensive one-stop-shop” for information about all aspects of life in the Serranía de Ronda. It’s time for a review of the website, it’s aims and objectives and its fitness-for-purpose.

Just as I am preparing to apply for Spanish citizenship – deadline end of January – the country is doing its best to put me off going ahead! First of all, two of Spain’s police forces have p**sed me off big-style and on top of that two places have convinced me never to visit again. What’s the story?

With the cold and wet weather we have been experiencing in southern Spain since the clocks went back, people are turning their thoughts to heating their houses. The DIY Guy has lived in a number of properties in the Ronda area, so he knows a thing or two about keeping warm.