To A&E in León, Oli and family fly back from Mallorca and join us in Montrondo, 60.000 migrants cross into Ceutu, Spain from Morocco, a family christening in the village and other stories of the week.

Montrondo, Sunday 2nd August, 2026

Fun at the party yesterday

Good morning everyone from Montrondo where we have been since 14th July. It is really like a home away from home with the difference being we are up in the mountains and have escaped the heat of Madrid. Oh how I love this place in the summer. 

Thankfully, I can report that the terrible fires that raged in Madrid last week are finally under control and those evacuated have gone home. There are more of course and there was one very near here but it was put out immediately.  The main news here this week was of course the crossing of over 60.000 migrants from Morocco into the Spanish city of Ceuta which was a provocative invasion but I will come to that later. 

It was quiet until this week when more and more members of the family came and now the houses are full and yesterday at the christening for the latest addition to the family, little Tirso, there were 57 people gathered here, 40 adults and 17 children. Imagine!

Last  Sunday was the quietest day of the week. We didn't do much, our only excursion, our daily evening walk to Murias and back.

On Monday I decided I needed to go to A&E in León where there is a big hospital. My UTI was not getting better after two different bouts of antibiotics so off we went. I even took my suitcase as I thought I might be admitted. Thankfully, I wasn't. We spent most of the morning there and at one point they took me aside and injected me with what I thought was a potent antibiotic which turned out to be "Nolotil" a potent pain killer I did not need.

At A&E on Monday in León

To cut a long story short, the antibiotics were not working because unknowingly I had two bacteria; nasty ones called Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis. They had come out in the culture results a few days after my first visit to A&E in Madrid but no doctor had seen them. I had showed them to AI which I now know you cannot trust. So one may have been killed off but not the other. Thus I was given yet another type of antibiotic which I have to take for 8 days. I am hating it because it has caused some sort of fungus in my you know where which is driving me mad.  We spent all morning at A&E but I came out relieved I didn't have to be admitted. We then drove into León for a late lunch. Later we shopped at Mercadona to stock up on things we cannot buy in this area. I think we didn't get home till nearly 7pm feeling pretty exhausted. We still managed our evening walk though. 

At about that time, Oli and family were flying back to Madrid from their holiday in Mallorca. Clever Miguel asked the pilot if Elliot and Juliet could visit the cockpit and they got the thrill of their lives. Elliot said there were a "lot of buttons". Here they are, the little mites having an exciting time.

Juliet and Elliot in the cockpit on the flight home from Mallorca on Monday

Tuesday was spent washing and cleaning in anticipation of their arrival on Wednesday. I also did a lot of rental admin stuff. This is a busy time of year for me, especially with all the reservations in Santa Pola and El Cuetu. But so far, so good. I have had some very happy guests who gave me great reviews which is wonderful. This  year I have a good cleaner in El Cuetu and Gina who looks after the flat and all my guests in Santa Pola is a treasure. Meanwhile, in Madrid, Oli took the kids for a much needed haircut. She sent me these photos:

Elliot and Juliet after their haircuts in Madrid on Tuesday

That evening we invited our neighbours, Pili, Toño and Dolores to wine and pistachios on our terrace. It was wonderful but I got a splitting headache afterwards. Alcohol often does that to me and I should drink very little which I do but sometimes I don't and then pay for the consequences. 

Wednesday came and our quiet time was over. I spent the morning cooking non stop as Oli and her family were arriving for lunch. I made the kids' favourite meal; meat balls, 60 of them! I served them with rice which came out perfect and runner beans. The bread was local from Murias, Oli's favourite and dessert was a platter of divine fruit: black cherries, cantaloupe melon, pineapple and black figs. Not for me, apples, pears and bananas. 

The table laid for lunch on Wednesday when Oli and family were arriving.

It was hot that day in the village with the temperature reaching 28ºc but no complaining as that is 10 degrees less than Madrid and bearable. 

They arrived on time and it was a sweet reunion. The kids were delighted to be back. Later Oli asked Elliot from a scale of 1 to 10 how happy he was. His answer was 10. Well, it would be. Here the kids have all their cousins and other children from the village to play with. Here they are safe and can ride their bicycles till Kingdom come and stay up late. They are never bored here. When I watch them I am reminded of Suzy and Olivia when they were small and how much they enjoyed their time here.That also makes me conscious of our age. We are now the same age as Eladio's parents were at the time and we were the age of our children who are now nearly all in their 40's (from 55 down to 34). It is lovely to watch but makes you feel a bit old. Their cousins range from aged 16 to 5 months old with many around 4, 5, 6 and 7; perfect for 4 and 6 year old Elliot and Juliet who will turn 5 and 7 in September. It's a wonderful age as they can be independent here and their parents less vigilant. 

As soon as lunch was over, Miguel, my son-in-law went upstairs to assemble their new furniture from Ikea which had arrived in their absence. That day he finished the bunk bed and the next day their chest of drawers. I always think sleeping on a bunk bed is very exciting for children. Their room used to be my study. Now I don't have one but right now I am writing from the terrace at the back of the house which is  a lovely place to be and very inspiring. I am writing as they all sleep as it is impossible to do so when everyone is up as there are too many interruptions.

Since last year, we now have a bar in the village which is the focal point in the summer. Elliot loves it, knows all the prices and is especially happy as his drink, Aquarias or similar (not allowed Coca Cola) comes with some fruit gums on a plate. He was joined by two of his cousins. The bar was selling raffle tickets for Saturday's Santa Marta fiesta. For 1 euro you got 6 or 7 numbers and the prize was 300 euros. I bought numbers for all of us present and got the kids to put their names on the back. Years ago the raffle was for a baby lamb and our family won it. You won't be surprised I didn't want to eat it after getting to know the poor little animal. Thankfully, the raffle is not for an animal to be eaten .Much better to win money, hahaha. Oli was greeted by lots of the villagers who are firm fans of her on TV and many had seen her reporting on the earthquake in Venezuela. That made me very proud of course. 

I made the dinner for everyone but didn't partake of it as these days I am just now hungry for in the evening. We have a timetable problem here for the evening meal as Eladio wants his at 8 pm and the kids are out playing at that time. Thus I decided that from then on,  I would make lunch every day but not dinner. Making lunch can take hours until everything is put away and I refuse now to do that in the evenings too. In a way I went on strike, hahaha.  So Eladio and I went on our walk which we wouldn't miss for all the tea in China for want of a better expression. 

On Thursday, as always, I was the first up. I got up at 6.30 with Pippa who always gets up with me. We went for a coffee to Senra with Toño and Pili which was a nice interval in the day. I came home to start lunch which was roast lamb with roast potatoes which everyone loved. Lamb is my favourite meat. We tried to have a siesta but the noise from upstairs was thunderous. Many more members of Eladio's big family arrived and soon it felt a little overwhelming. We now all have a house each and I simply cannot fathom how we used to sleep when there was only one house, a restored barn and one bathroom to boot. We told Elliot the other day that when Eladio was  a child there was not bathroom or running water. He asked if they were poor.They were poor but never went hungry but were rich in many ways. When I see our grandchildren refusing their food I imagine what it was like for Eladio and their siblings as children. I bet they never dared to. Kids have it so easy these days and live in abundance. I think it was good for Elliot to hear his grandfather's story. The bar used to be the school and "Booboo" explained to his grandson that their were different entrances for the boys and girls. That he couldn't fathom. 

As we went for our walk that evening on the old path, there were tractors making haystacks in the fields. It was a sight for sore eyes. I had to have a photo of the hay stacks, the shape of these here are called "rollos"  (rolls). Eladio told me how hard it was every summer when he was young and the whole family had to work together to make them with their hands. Imagine!

Me with haystacks freshly made in the fields on our walk on Thursday evening. 

It was around that time and earlier that there was a mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish enclave, Cuetu in North Africa of up over 60.000 Moroccans and nearly 60 people died trying.  Word had spread that entry was allowed or rather that migrants would not be turned back after a court sentence prohibiting the return to Morocco of those who swam there. Many, many did, wearing wet suits and or rubber rings. Once on Spanish territory, they removed the suits, took our their phones and sent photos back to Morocco encouraging others to do the same. This came after the court sentence but also after Pedro Sánchez, Spain's PM, had visited their arch enemy, Algeria. Trump, an ally of the dictatorial Moroccan King, was gleeful in his criticism of Spain's left wing government. He accused it of encouraging migrants to come after the legalization of over a million in recent times. He used it as an excuse or example of what would happen to the USA if they let all illegal immigrants in.  He is also cross with Sanchez for his stance against Israel and for not letting the USA use their military bases in Spain for the Iran war. It was very probable that the Moroccan King supported the mass influx into Spain by allowing the Moroccan police to turn a blind eye. However, I think he overestimated the numbers that came.  Ceuta has a population of 80.00 so imagine the influx. It was awful and felt as though the city and the country had been invaded. Shops closed, people stayed at home and the unwelcome migrants had nowhere to go. The Promised Land did not look attractive once the tens of thousands arrived. There was nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat and the Spanish authorities just could not cope. Today as I write, most of them have turned back home. But Morocco and Trump have made their stance and made Spain look bad. Meloni of Italy and others wanted to close Spain's border with the rest of the Schengen countries and now Morocco, gleefully has made a political statement over the ownership of Ceuta and Melilla. It's complicated to go into but both enclaves have belonged to Spain since 1580. It's a bit like the Gibraltar issue which the UK hangs onto and of course the local population do not want to belong to poorer Morocco where there is a dictatorship. It was a huge crisis and it won't go away.

Far away in Montrondo life was quiet and we could hardly imagine what life was like in Ceuta; frightening I imagine.  On Friday morning Juliet visited us in our bedroom in the morning as she does often. Well, both of them do. Elliot comes to pinch my chewing gum. They love coming to see Pippa who sleeps with us. Here is Juliet stroking our wonderful canine member of the family.

Juliet stroking Pippa in our room where she comes often to see what we are up to.

Her brother Elliot loves Pippa just as much and here he is also stroking her that morning outside the house.

Elliot stroking Pippa. Oh how he loves her. 

That morning saw me at the local GP. She couldn't find the results of the urine culture but gave me something for the itch which didn't really work. It will only go when I finish the antibiotics, I suppose. From there we went to Senra for coffee, stopping on the way at the chemist. Aftewards I spent 3 hours making lunch which was exhausting. Yesterday we had a break from cooking because of the party but today will be similar. It's not really a holiday if you have to cook for 6 people every day is it? More and more people arrived for the party the next day and it was all rather crowded.  But it is wonderful for the whole family to gather for such an important gathering. The only pity was that Suzy couldn't come and I missed her dearly.

Saturday came, 1st August and the day of Montrondo's patron saint, Santa Marta. We had our own party really and I didn't see anything of the village festival. In any case the big event, the dance, never starts until 11.30 at night, way past my bedtime. 

The village mass was at 12.30 and was followed by the baptism. Here are some photos to remember the occasion.

At the baptism yesterday

Once it was over, we headed back to where our group of houses is with its big quadrangle, called "el corral". Pili had organised outside catering with 4 waiters and we didn't have to do anything except enjoy the food, the company and the festivities. I have to say it was the most splendid party I have ever seen in Montrondo. Here are some photos to remember it, including the dancing afterwards.

Some pictures from yesterday's party in Montrondo

Juliet in her element

Elliot

We had group photos taken and I have to include this year's photo of Eladio and his 5 siblings, as always in order of age. This is it.

The six siblings. From right to left: Eladio, José Antonio, Adela, Alejandro, Pili and Isidro. Their ages range from 82 to 64.  Life was very different for them when they grew up and a party like yesterday's would have been unthinkable. They had parties, of course, but everything was done at home. 

The party continued until late, long after the caterers had gone. We had a makeshift dinner all together outside in the "corral" which each household contributed to.  I think we must have all gone to bed exhausted but happy. It was a wonderful day; a day to be remembered.

Today is Sunday and I shall be cooking again as all my sisters-in-laws will be too. We shall probably go to Senra for coffee and in the afternoon gather together in the "corral" after which Eladio and I will resume our evening walks. We need them to work off the calories consumed yesterday hahaha.

I have come to the end of the tales of this week. All that remains is to wish you all a good day and to thank you for reading my blog. For that I am always grateful.

Cheers from Montrondo, 

Masha