El Cuetu in mourning, last few days in Asturias, housing crisis and protests in Spain, home again, family reunion with Eladio's Cuban cousin, Lecinia and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday 4th October, 2026

Family gathering to welcome Lecinia and celebrate Eladio's, Elliot's and Juliet's September birthdays yesterday.

Good morning all. How have you been?

It's been quite a week for us and for many others too. Last Sunday El Cuetu was reeling from the news of the death of 20 year old Soraya in a car rally the day before. The village was in mourning and was like an open air funeral parlour with many, many people coming to mourn Soraya and pay their condolences to the family. 

We had a few days until we left on Wednesday so filled it with activities and visits to new places and old as best we could although a lot of the joy had gone out of our stay. That morning we visited the pretty town of Porrúa - it's dreadful to think but Soraya's boyfriend, the driver, Germán is from there. He was still in hospital when we left. We had a coffee at the local bar and admired the houses so typical of the area. 

A house in Porrúa with two horses outside. Lovely picture.

There were local newspapers lying around, all including the terrible news of the death of this young girl. 

The tragic news in all the local papers

Of interest in Porrúa is the open air museum of times gone by in the area. Called Museo Etnográfico de Oriente de Asturias,  it showcases rural life in around 1900 and the museum is really a farm looking like it would have then. There was a granery or  "horreo" so typical of the area. 

Outside the granary in Porrua last Sunday

Then there was the house and all the buildings you see on a farm, barns and so forth. It was all fully furnished with objects and furniture of the times as well as farming tools. All of it was very familiar to Eladio who was born in the 40's in Montrondo. He recognised so many of them. Here are some photos of our visit to this marvelous museum. 

The farm museum in Porrua

Later, keen to visit a beach I had heard about called Playa de la Huelga, we drove as near to it as we could. It's a wild beach with at least a 2 or 3km walk to get there. But what a wonderful walk to this secluded beach known for its stunning sea arch. Thankfully it was mid tide so we could enjoy walking on the beach as at high tide the sand completely disappears. I am afraid though that we both got our trainers soaked as there was a stream of water running through this lovely and uncrowded beach.

At Playa de la Huelga last Sunday

Once home we had lunch which was the contents of the doggy bag we brought back from Casa Xico the day before. It was delicious and the best thing is that I didn't have to cook. 

The news from England was not good. There was a frustrated terrorist plot at an RAF base in Fairford, Gloucestershire. British authorities say there are strong indications the Iranians are to blame. If they are it will be in retaliation for the US Army using the military base to launch its attacks on Iran. What a stupid war this is. Trump got us into it and he can't get us out of it. 

It was strange sitting outside on our terrace in the afternoon with so many mourners coming.  The atmosphere could not have been sadder.

Monday came and the village continued to be in mourning. I had embraced both Loli and Pepe, our neighbours and the girl's grandparents who just couldn't take it in. Loli had lost her other son 23 years ago aged just 23 and she wondered why she was being punished so severely for the second time. We didn't want to disturb the parents, Lucía and Emilio and the brother Pablo but plucked up courage to do so. Knocking on their door was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. What can you say to a family who have lost their daughter and sister aged just 20? We didn't have the words. All I could do was hug  and cry with them. They have been in my thoughts since that fateful Saturday 26th September and will be always.

We left feeling helpless and sad. How on earth can they rebuild their lives now? Time helps but the sadness will never leave, just as it never left Loli when she lost her son Juan Pablo 23 years ago. My heart goes out to this family who did not deserve the worst blow there is in life. 

Life for us continued and this week saw me counting my blessings. We went to Posada to get fruit and then decided to visit the town of Ribadasella, a pretty and very popular town in Asturias. We have been there countless times but I never tire of it. I love the Santa Marina beach which we walked along. It was on this beach with my friend Amanda on 8th September 2022, we heard the Queen was gravely ill. We were together when we heard the news of her death. Anyway, here is a photo Eladio took of me by that wonderful beach where, one day, for sure, I will bathe.

Enjoying a walk on the Santa Marina beach in Ribadasella

We came home to find we had a new neighbour, a rather skinny horse in the field near our house. I would have loved to stroke it but it was full of flies, poor beast. 

Our new neighbour in El Cuetu

That day I did have to make lunch. These days, maybe because I am on Mounjaro, I am rather fed up of cooking and feeding everyone. I am retired but this burden is always on my shoulders. Of course, I have Tana to help me now but the mental load is always mine. So when I go away, the last thing I want is to to spend my mornings cooking. Thus I made something very simple, fried eggs, pork loins and chips with fresh tomatoes. Eladio loved what is called here a "plato combinado". 

My afternoon was cheered up by my weekly video call with Amanda. As she has been to El Cuetu she knows Loli, my neighbour and understood the awful tragedy that had hit the village. 

Tuesday came and I was up at 6 am. It was our last full day and the warmest with the temperature rising to 26ºc. That day we simply went to Llanes where I had a coffee at La Galerna after which we went on that marvellous walk called Paseo de San Pedro. We never tire of that walk with its rocks and great views.

Paseo San Pedro in Llanes was the place we chose for our walk on Tuesday

It was that day that the new  PM, Andy Burnham, finally spoke about the elephant in the room, Brexit. Speaking at the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool, his words were "Brexit has done more harm than good". His speech was hailed as historic. I only listened to part of it but he is a good narrator. However, when I had a video call that afternoon with my school friend, Kathy, from Keighley, she was not quite as enthusiastic as he also said in the speech he would downgrade the famous "triple lock" state pension which affects all pensioners in the UK. He needs the funding to improve the NHS. But pensioners won't be happy. 

Wednesday dawned, the day of our departure. We had to leave early as we were seeing a contractor at 4 pm at home. He will be doing major repairs in the garage and the front terrace where water has seeped in and done a lot of damage. We went to say goodbye to our distraught neighbours but only Pepe was up. We hugged him and left him looking very forlorn. 

On our way home we only stopped once for a coffee and quick bite. While Eladio drove, I played games on my mobile but also caught up on the main news in Spain which is no longer Ceuta. It is the housing crisis which after the eviction of an old lady, Mari Carmen, turned into huge protests with 1000 demonstrators camping in Puerta del Sol, the very centre of Madrid. This lady who has become a household name, was actually quite fortunate and not the victim she is made out to be. She has lived in a 92m2 flat in the Retiro Park area, one of the most expensive in the capital, for 70 years or more. She inherited the contract her father signed in 1956 and paid a pittance in rent. The contract was what is called "renta antigua" wherein in Franco's Spain, the landlord could never increase the rent and the tenancy lasted for 3 generations. However, the Socialist party, who see Mari Carmen as a victim and catalyst of the housing crisis, were responsible for changing Franco's law and stopped all old contracts. She was a civil servant, had a good job but when offered to buy the flat she refused. With the new socialist law, she had to vacate the property in the 2000's but she never did until after a long legal battle, she was finally evicted from what she calls her home on 23rd September. She was offered an almost free flat from the local government, a place in a care home and even her family offered her to live with them. She refused and guess what? She has now been allowed to go back to the flat and pay only 500 euros a month for it when the going price is over 2000. Those who know her say she is a despot and nasty neighbour. Be that as it may, her case, handled by a far left wing tenants association, who went as far as to send a box of live cockroaches to the owner, has now reached all four corners of this country and inspired 1000 disgruntled people to protest and sleep in the Puerta del Sol. The Spanish government who has been in power for 8 years has done nothing to fix the housing crisis in Spain -basically it is impossible for young people to rent or buy on a low salary - suddenly went into action and came up with two housing decrees to be approved this Friday. The measures were only really in favour of tenants leaving most landlords with no wish whatsoever to rent their houses they could probably never get back.  What this government has not understood is that it is not the responsibility of private owners to house people who cannot buy or rent a property. It is their responsibility and they have had plenty of time to build social housing. That is the answer to the housing crisis in Spain and only that. Thankfully,  the decrees did not go through. In order to do so, the Socialist party needed the support of all its coalition partners, including Junts, that far right Catalan Independence party led by fugitive Puigdemont. His 7 seats swayed the vote. It is ironic that the latter made him PM and is now ousting him from Parliament. It is obvious Sánchez does not have the support necessary in his minority government. Now we are all wondering if Sánchez will call a general election ahead of next year. 

Meanwhile, the motley group of people camping in Sol continue their protests. Not all are genuine lack of housing sufferers. There are groups there raising funds for ETA terrorist prisoners and even pro squatter groups giving lessons on how to squat and milk the system. Squatting is another main reason landlords are unwilling to rent. In France too there are protests and they are quite violent.  Students, indignant that Macron has reduced the budget for education, have taken to the streets and have the country gripped with their violent behaviour. I hope the protests in Spain don't get as nasty as in France. 

Anyway, back to our little life which is so quiet usually. We were home by 3 and Tana had our lunch ready. The man who came to talk to Eladio about the repair work doubled his estimate and we had to make a big decision. We agreed finally and work will start on Monday. 

Later I unpacked and met my Serbian guests who left on Friday. This weekend we are full house again. We spent part of the afternoon planning our next few weeks which will see us on the road again. 

The big news internationally that day was the story of the Dubai flight to Tel Aviv. The co pilot from Oman stabbed the captain with the intention of crashing the plane. Thankfully he was thwarted by a heroic group of passengers.

Thursday was 1st October, a significant day for me as it is the anniversary of the passing away of my dear mother. I think about her every day and have missed her since 1999 when I was just 42, Suzy's age. Olivia commented it was too young to lose a mother. It was. God bless you Mummy. I hope you are with Daddy.

I had an appointment that morning with a urologist at the local private hospital, Monteprincipe in Pozuelo. My urinary infection was back with a vengeance after I had finished the 7 day course of antibiotics. The culture result revealed I have another nasty bug called klebsiella pneumoniae and which is different from the one I had in the summer. The doctor prescribed new and stronger antibiotics to be taken for 10 days. Thankfully I am feeling better since I started them. At the end of the month I will have a scan and they will do another culture. In all my life until this summer I had never ever suffered from a UTI and am wondering why it is happening. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of it soon. 

Later we went for a coffee and another appointment with the relationship manager of our bank. I came home and had the sudden urge to clean and clear out my shoe and boot cupboards. I didn't even know what I had. Now everything is looking shipshape and Bristol fashion. 

It was on Friday that we finally saw Suzy whom we hadn't seen since we left for Asturias. She seemed in fine fettle although busy with her work and her new beau. She said to me yesterday that she has a new life! At the moment we are like ships in the night but I am so glad she was off on Saturday and could join in the family reunion yesterday. 

Friday was the day of the voting of the new housing decrees. I had a vested interest in them not going through as there were measures in it to increase the already stringent conditions to host on Airbnb and Booking including a huge increase in tax. Airbnb is the scapegoat of the housing crisis along with so called vulture funds. However, they only represent a small percentage of the rental market, between 4 and 1.30% between them. Many landlords who rented long term turned to Airbnb instead as there is less likelihood of guests turning into squatters, plus it is more lucrative. A lot of older people, rent out one room in their own house to increase their paltry pension and they were to be penalised too. I am glad it hasn't got through.

I spent part of Friday afternoon batch cooking - yes cooking again - for the weekend and to take to Montrondo where we shall be going with Lecinia tomorrow. It was from Montrondo her grandfather, Constante, aged just 17, left the village in around 1920 for Cuba in search of a better life. He never came back. It's nice to think his granddaughter went back for him. 

Saturday was to be a busy day. I was up early and cooking again for the family lunch. I made spaghetti bolognese as it is popular with Elliot and Juliet.   We then drove into Madrid to Eladio's brother's house where we used to live too when we first got married. There we would meet Lecinia. We had only met her once before and it was in Havana in January 2017 when José Antonio's eldest son, Miguel, got married to Claudia, a Cuban girl. Lecinia is Eladio's second cousin. Her grandfather, Constante, was the brother of Eladio's beloved grandmother, Lecinia to whom she owes her name.

Coming to Spain must abe a huge cultural shock for Lecinia. The Cubsns blames the US blockade and never thinks their communist government may be to blame in any way. Besides, Cuba still maintains the possibility of trading with 100 other countries but has virtually nothing to export.. The government is so inept, Cuba even needs to import sugar. Immigrants from Spain went there at the beginning of the last century to work on the sugar plantations like her grandfather. I wonder what Constante would have thought.

It was a pleasure to meet her again and as soon as we hugged, she felt like family. Eladio and his sister Pili say she looks just like their grandmother and her great aunt Lecinia. We drove her home but stopped on the way for a coffee at Alverán and to pick up the birthday cake for lunch where we would celebrate Juliet, Elliot and Eladio's September birthdays together and welcome their new cousin. We also stopped at Carrefour to pick up spaghetti. I didn't say anything but could just imagine what was going through our Cuban cousin's head as she saw the huge variety and quality of the produce. 10 years ago in Havana I went into a couple of supermarkets and to an outdoor fruit and vegetable market. There was so little there, it reminded me of the stories my parents told of Russia before communism fell. Soon we were home to our massive house and there was Pippa to greet us. 

We installed Leci as she is known in the green room for which she was grateful as it has a terrace and she is a smoker. We showed her around the house and introduced her to Suzy, Tana and the latter's sister, Elsa. There was the odd guest around too so the house felt very merry. Lunch was ready and while we waited for Oli and family to arrive, we had a glass of sherry outside. I seized the moment and took a photo of Eladio with his cousin who is 

Eladio with his cousin Lecinia who arrived yesterday at our house after a week with my in-laws, Toño and Dolores. Aged just 64 she is 18 years younger than him. 

As you can imagine, nearly all our conversation was about Cuba, how her grandfather left Spain and what life is like today. Life is terrible. Lecinia was a dentist until she retired so it was great when Oli showed her Elliot's teeth as he has one growing under the other.

When Oli, Miguel and our 2 amazing grandchildren arrived, the family was complete. We were 8 at the table which Tana had laid so well as we got out all the finery. Before we tucked into our soup and spag bol, we had photos taken. I chose one of the them as this weeks' feature photo to remember the day. 

We spent a lovely afternoon together and as I said, it felt like family. Even Pippa realised that and the kids were very affectionate with their new cousin. Here are some more photos of yesterday.

Photos from yesterday's lunch and family gathering

It was good to see Oli too whom I hadn't seen since Alicia's wedding at the end of August. She was looking good. 

When everyone had gone, it was just Eladio, Lecinia and I left and we spent time by the pool over a glass of dry sherry and we introduced our Cuban cousin to pistachios. The variety of food in Cuba is very limited. We know that as we went 10 years ago but now it is even worse. You cannot get fresh milk for love or money, only powder milk. My nephew Miguel who lived there told me they eat rice and beans every day and sometimes have pork or chicken and not much else.  Even eggs are hard to come by. There is hardly any fresh fruit or vegetables.  I served peeled prawns for dinner with a salad and mayonnaise which our guest ate heartily. She will eat well while she is in Spain. 

We went to bed extremely tired but happy. I was happy too to get a message that evening from an estate agency in Llanes. They had shown a new client our house in El Cuetu yesterday who had written to the agency to say they really liked it. So we are getting nearer. Maybe it will turn into a sale and maybe we will have to wait. We don't mind.

Today is Sunday and we have no plans. Originally we were going to Montrondo today but have postponed it until tomorrow to fit in with Eladio's siblings's plans. I think we will just have a quiet day with Lecinia and more enjoyable conversation. 

That's it from me for this week. Wishing you all a good Sunday,

Cheers Masha