I have asked myself a few times why I have yet to publish the story of Diego in my blog. It is an interesting story and one that is unique to Spain... I think. I have had clients comment on this man many times and even tell me stories of similar men in other places, well one man in England and the place benefited from having him around and publicizing the story. So here it goes, our story of Diego, but I am not telling it to benefit from him, only because it is such an intriguing story.
When we were looking at the purchase contract to buy the hotel way back in September 2004, there was one clause in there about this man called Diego Piña. He had the rights of a room and the right of 3 meals a day; our first reaction was what the heck is this? We certainly did not want something like this and firmly told the lawyer representing the seller. A few weeks went by and eventually we were on the phone speaking with the seller about a a couple of outstanding points to be resolved in the purchase contract including Diego. Antonio, as he is called, told us that Diego was the owner of the land that the hotel is built upon. When he bought the land from him, he made an agreement with him; the agreement was that he, Antonio, would pay some money to Diego and also provide him a place to live and his 3 daily meals for as long as he needed or wanted. Antonio informed us if we agreed to accept this obligation (which is in fact a legal right held by Diego and published for all the world to see in the land registry in Ronda), we would receive ownership to another house (Diego's place) in the purchase without any additional cost.
Does that all sound well and good or does it strike a note of concern? For us, in that moment, we thought that if we were going to receive another house in the deal at no extra cost, then what's the big deal? He would only require feeding 3 times a day and how bothersome would that be??
When we were looking at the purchase contract to buy the hotel way back in September 2004, there was one clause in there about this man called Diego Piña. He had the rights of a room and the right of 3 meals a day; our first reaction was what the heck is this? We certainly did not want something like this and firmly told the lawyer representing the seller. A few weeks went by and eventually we were on the phone speaking with the seller about a a couple of outstanding points to be resolved in the purchase contract including Diego. Antonio, as he is called, told us that Diego was the owner of the land that the hotel is built upon. When he bought the land from him, he made an agreement with him; the agreement was that he, Antonio, would pay some money to Diego and also provide him a place to live and his 3 daily meals for as long as he needed or wanted. Antonio informed us if we agreed to accept this obligation (which is in fact a legal right held by Diego and published for all the world to see in the land registry in Ronda), we would receive ownership to another house (Diego's place) in the purchase without any additional cost.
Does that all sound well and good or does it strike a note of concern? For us, in that moment, we thought that if we were going to receive another house in the deal at no extra cost, then what's the big deal? He would only require feeding 3 times a day and how bothersome would that be??
Well, we did not think about the long term effects of this agreement. Nor did we think to ask the age of this man nor the state of his health. We thought we would get a house for nothing.... well, you get nothing for nothing so you must always pay something to receive a return... that is how life works. Someone must pay! That is the golden rule to life... there is always a fee at the end of the day, nothing is free.
So we have been paying that fee now for almost 5 years.
Diego is a simple man, a village person who does not work nor does he even like to work, or so he recently told Ivan. He lives in this small house that Antonio built for him and that neither Ivan nor I have seen the inside of... our house mind you. The house is located right at the entrance of the village, two buildings up from the hotel. It is more of a bungalow than a house as it has a tilted roof (in fact, the people of Juzcar call his house the cheese wedge as it looks something like that). He owns 2 or 3 other fincas, parcels of land in the countryside, from which he occasionally brings us chestnuts, vegetables, olives or mushrooms.
This simple man was kind of ripped off in this deal as he was paid very little money for land on which a hotel was to be erected, in a prime village location; his house is not where he was lead to believe it would either and he has to rely on a (unwilling at this point) third party for his meals. He has been the butt of many jokes in the village over the years as we have learned. He does not speak all that much but he blows a lot, sort of like whistling but not really. He does that when he is drunk which is normally several times a week. And rightly so I guess as what else is there to do for a single man who never wed, has no children or family to speak of, to do in a village this size? He wonders to his fincas, he hangs out in the village bar drinking a mix of white and sweet wine. He smokes a bit as well but not all that much. Occasionally, Diego helps/assists Francisco with a project he might be working on; Francisco is our maintenance man who lives here in the village and is quite entrepreneurial and so is always busy with one thing or another. On a very rare occasion, he might lend a hand around the hotel but we don't encourage that.
For us, he is mostly an annoyance as he is always there, waiting in front of the hotel first thing in the morning, waiting for his coffee and toast with garlic and olive oil (the traditional Andaluz breakfast). He is not really the first person one wants to see in the morning but there he is. And normally, quite punctually, he will be here at 1.30 PM for his lunch. I recently introduced a new policy where he has to pick up and return his tray to the kitchen himself. Dinner, well dinner is another story.
This man uses the sun as his clock basically. So in summer he will arrive quite late for dinner as the sun sets quite late here in Spain in summer; in winter it is just the opposite, he arrives quite early. Then there are days when he does not turn up at all which we like the best of course. Or he shows at 11 PM or later when we are about to close and retire for the day, expecting to get a meal. On one such occasion, I handed him a piece of fruit and sent him on his way. But to better manage this, I introduced a meal schedule for him which is hanging in the kitchen. It tells him his lunch and dinner times. If he shows later than 10PM, he gets no dinner and I think a two hour window between 8-10 PM is time enough for anyone to show up for a meal.
This is the thorn in our side. As you might be able to tell from this story so far, this man never, well, almost never leaves the village. He has no job so he takes no holiday (and where would he go anyway?). He is always here, 3-6-5 days per year. So what do we do you ask, when we want to escape from here ourselves? Again, Francisco to the rescue... he feeds Diego while we are away. But the rest of the time, it's mainly Ivan who feeds him, but I do as well some times and so does Ivan's father, Mariano, when his parents are visiting.
Diego was only 68 years old when we arrived here and he is in no doubt, better health today than when we arrived as Ivan feeds him well. My dad, Paul, was very friendly with him the two times he's been here and Diego has commented to me on that.
So what else is there to say? Many of our returning clients ask about Diego upon their arrival in the hotel. Those that have not been here before and pass a couple of days here, always inevitably ask, "Who is that man that comes in every day?", no doubt because there is normally little to no conversation between us and him, just a tray of food will be prepared and then he is called to take it away. He eats in the bar, puts his tray away and normally leaves. Sometimes, we have to ask him to bath before he comes into the bar. It is a known fact in Juzcar that Diego thinks that winter time is not the time to bath, it is just too cold outside! I don't believe this is a rule he follows only in winter, in fact, I'm certain. One can imagine that a man who does not bath will stink a bit with time. And on top of this, his cloths are not washed regularly either so add that on top of poor personal hygiene habits and it adds up to a stinky cloud around you that offends most people it comes into contact with. He is a bit indignant when told, "Please bath before you come, you smell" checking his cloths and saying "I just washed this", indicating his cloths.
Mind you, we don't dislike this man, it is just the burden of having to have him around every day. Fortunately, he is not demanding because there are days when we are just out from morning til evening and he gets no lunch as we made no arrangements for it but he does not complain. While he is a simple man, he is not a stupid man so if one tries, one can have a conversation with him, as demonstrated by my dad.
So that is the story of Diego Piña. I have thoughts lots about writing about him but never sat down and actually started the piece so here it is, rolling off the proverbial tongue. Any comments? Everyone who has heard the story tells us to write a book, or comments "only in Spain" or to that effect... but it is humorous, if you are not the one with the obligation to feed him. In fact, making light of it, when asked who this man is, I reply, "He came with the hotel, like a table or another piece of furniture."
So we have been paying that fee now for almost 5 years.
Diego is a simple man, a village person who does not work nor does he even like to work, or so he recently told Ivan. He lives in this small house that Antonio built for him and that neither Ivan nor I have seen the inside of... our house mind you. The house is located right at the entrance of the village, two buildings up from the hotel. It is more of a bungalow than a house as it has a tilted roof (in fact, the people of Juzcar call his house the cheese wedge as it looks something like that). He owns 2 or 3 other fincas, parcels of land in the countryside, from which he occasionally brings us chestnuts, vegetables, olives or mushrooms.
This simple man was kind of ripped off in this deal as he was paid very little money for land on which a hotel was to be erected, in a prime village location; his house is not where he was lead to believe it would either and he has to rely on a (unwilling at this point) third party for his meals. He has been the butt of many jokes in the village over the years as we have learned. He does not speak all that much but he blows a lot, sort of like whistling but not really. He does that when he is drunk which is normally several times a week. And rightly so I guess as what else is there to do for a single man who never wed, has no children or family to speak of, to do in a village this size? He wonders to his fincas, he hangs out in the village bar drinking a mix of white and sweet wine. He smokes a bit as well but not all that much. Occasionally, Diego helps/assists Francisco with a project he might be working on; Francisco is our maintenance man who lives here in the village and is quite entrepreneurial and so is always busy with one thing or another. On a very rare occasion, he might lend a hand around the hotel but we don't encourage that.
For us, he is mostly an annoyance as he is always there, waiting in front of the hotel first thing in the morning, waiting for his coffee and toast with garlic and olive oil (the traditional Andaluz breakfast). He is not really the first person one wants to see in the morning but there he is. And normally, quite punctually, he will be here at 1.30 PM for his lunch. I recently introduced a new policy where he has to pick up and return his tray to the kitchen himself. Dinner, well dinner is another story.
This man uses the sun as his clock basically. So in summer he will arrive quite late for dinner as the sun sets quite late here in Spain in summer; in winter it is just the opposite, he arrives quite early. Then there are days when he does not turn up at all which we like the best of course. Or he shows at 11 PM or later when we are about to close and retire for the day, expecting to get a meal. On one such occasion, I handed him a piece of fruit and sent him on his way. But to better manage this, I introduced a meal schedule for him which is hanging in the kitchen. It tells him his lunch and dinner times. If he shows later than 10PM, he gets no dinner and I think a two hour window between 8-10 PM is time enough for anyone to show up for a meal.
This is the thorn in our side. As you might be able to tell from this story so far, this man never, well, almost never leaves the village. He has no job so he takes no holiday (and where would he go anyway?). He is always here, 3-6-5 days per year. So what do we do you ask, when we want to escape from here ourselves? Again, Francisco to the rescue... he feeds Diego while we are away. But the rest of the time, it's mainly Ivan who feeds him, but I do as well some times and so does Ivan's father, Mariano, when his parents are visiting.
Diego was only 68 years old when we arrived here and he is in no doubt, better health today than when we arrived as Ivan feeds him well. My dad, Paul, was very friendly with him the two times he's been here and Diego has commented to me on that.
So what else is there to say? Many of our returning clients ask about Diego upon their arrival in the hotel. Those that have not been here before and pass a couple of days here, always inevitably ask, "Who is that man that comes in every day?", no doubt because there is normally little to no conversation between us and him, just a tray of food will be prepared and then he is called to take it away. He eats in the bar, puts his tray away and normally leaves. Sometimes, we have to ask him to bath before he comes into the bar. It is a known fact in Juzcar that Diego thinks that winter time is not the time to bath, it is just too cold outside! I don't believe this is a rule he follows only in winter, in fact, I'm certain. One can imagine that a man who does not bath will stink a bit with time. And on top of this, his cloths are not washed regularly either so add that on top of poor personal hygiene habits and it adds up to a stinky cloud around you that offends most people it comes into contact with. He is a bit indignant when told, "Please bath before you come, you smell" checking his cloths and saying "I just washed this", indicating his cloths.
Mind you, we don't dislike this man, it is just the burden of having to have him around every day. Fortunately, he is not demanding because there are days when we are just out from morning til evening and he gets no lunch as we made no arrangements for it but he does not complain. While he is a simple man, he is not a stupid man so if one tries, one can have a conversation with him, as demonstrated by my dad.
So that is the story of Diego Piña. I have thoughts lots about writing about him but never sat down and actually started the piece so here it is, rolling off the proverbial tongue. Any comments? Everyone who has heard the story tells us to write a book, or comments "only in Spain" or to that effect... but it is humorous, if you are not the one with the obligation to feed him. In fact, making light of it, when asked who this man is, I reply, "He came with the hotel, like a table or another piece of furniture."
