Los Dioses

Lubrin is a white-washed village set within the Sierra Filabres Mountains in the Almeria region of southern Spain. Since the 16th century it survives on its agricultural products, in particular olives and almonds on irrigated terraces and the rearing of goat herds for their popular soft cheese (queso de cabra). On the outskirts of the municipality, about 2 kms as the crow flies but 45 minutes by car, lies Los Dioses the nearst hamlet to my next workaway location, 2 kms further on. The name means "the Gods" as the place is at the dizzying altitude of 400m asl. Tradesmen quail at the name and refuse to make the ascent unless for vertigenous profits.

I came mainly to fix the roof but this will not be possible now thanks to the convoluted laws in Spain.
One needs permission from the Mayor before undertaking any repairs or additions to one's property and in order to verify the plan one has to produce a quote for the job and a copy of a mandatory document describing the house in detail, delivered by a proprietor to the person buying his house. The former is used to calculate the minicipality's "tax" and the latter to ensure that no additions are slipped in as remodelling or maintenance.
The problem arises with most of the old cottages which never had the document but, being ancient and rural have a protected status. So it is in this case, although the old pile of stones has been tastefully turned into a comfortable home it is not possible to fix the roof without reams of official paper. The estimate is for paperwork is £4,000 which is more than the cost of repairs.
Dry and stony as it is, the ground must have produced enough wheat to merit the house having its own threshing circle. The Lopez family who originally owned the property must have been pretty well off.Read more