Hi Phil

What a nice thing to say  :)

When we came out last November we were determined that we were only going to look around the area and see if we felt that we could live there, we even refused to look in estate agents windows!  On our last morning we were taking a second look along the Mas de Barberans road as we liked the area at the foot of Els Ports and pulled off the road to let one of the quarry lorries thunder past.  Martin got out of the car to take 'one last photo' and wandered up the road to get a better view of the mountains and as he got over the crest of the road there it was!  He came back to the car to tell me and we drove down and stopped to get a better look.  As we wandered over the bridge we suddenly realised that there was a new(ish) hand painted 'En Vente' sign with a tel no.  And the rest, as they say, is history  8-).

We are determined to renovate it as beautifully as possible and will certainly be doing loads of research and using local craftsmen (if there are any!)

Is your finca a holiday home?  I managed to find matamoros on the map and you are certainly in beautiful area.

I hope too that we are able to meet up, we are hoping to move out in October but it is all dependant on planning permission being granted by a listed building committee that only meet once a month, but not in April (Easter) or June, July or August (summer)!!

We are very lucky that our vendors are a local family, with connections on the council, who are more than happy to hold off signing final contracts (we've only paid a 10% deposit)  until they have obtained all the permissions.  

Penny

(Henley on Thames - Oxfordshire)