A busy week at home, the heat has come, Spain's former PM Zapatero under investigation, taking care of Elliot and Juliet, Oli's birthday and other stories of the week

 Madrid, Sunday 24th May, 2026

A snapshot from Oli's birthday dinner at home on Friday

Good morning again friends and readers. What a hot and busy week it has been.  The heat came with a vengeance and looks like it is here to stay.  Madrid and most of Spain have been sweltering with temperatures over 30ºc. I love the good weather but not extreme heat.

I have been busy trying to get everything under my belt frantically before we go away to Yorkshire this Thursday so as to be stress free there. To think I will be writing from Bradford in the UK next Sunday rather thrills me. I haven't been back for 4 years and have so much planned for our 2 weeks in my beloved Yorkshire.  

There were no walks for me this week owing to my painful knee which flared up in Doñana and I have to save it for England.

Last Sunday  was a quiet day and I spent a lot of it searching for invoices and filling out a spreadsheet to give to our accountant for this year's tax returns. It is a huge job that has taken me about 10 days but I am happy to say I,or we, because Eladio did his bit, have now finished our part of the work. Now it's up to Carmen. 

Regional elections took place that day in Andalusia where we had just been. By the evening we knew that the right wing party already ruling, the PP, was to win again but will need the support of the far right party Vox. The PSOE, the socialist party in government, lost its 4th regional election so far this year and things are not looking good for the PM Pedro Sánchez loved so much outside Spain but a lot less here. His wife and brother are under investigation for various fraud charges, his numbers 2, 3 and 4 in the government are in prison awaiting sentences for corruption - kickbacks for contracts. And to top it all, the former socialist PM, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was indicted this week for very serious crimes. That was the biggest news of the week. He has been charged with influence peddling, criminal organisation,  money laundering and document forgery.  Zapatero was the defacto  international political mediator in Venezuela. He was supposed to help the country, do things like help political prisoners be released. Instead, he milked the system getting commission for the sale of oil, and in the meantime making the country even poorer. I am glad that he will have his comeuppance. He is the first ever Spanish President ever to be sent to trial. Yet still Sánchez hangs on to power and supports him.  The big question is whether he will be fall in the end too. He has to. Frankly I would like to see both Zapatero and Sánchez behind prison walls. Spain is a great country, the second most visited in the world but corruption always rears its ugly head here in any government that comes to power. The saying that power corrupts is so true. The international media is full of how well Spain's economy is going. It may well be so on paper but not for very many people who cannot live on the minimum wage, just over 1000 euros a month. Housing is our biggest problem after corruption. However, as I always say, Spain works. Things function but I do hate its bureaucracy and always have. I will be coming to that later as it affected me directly this week.

Monday came. We didn't do much apart from going out for a lovely coffee in the shade of course.  The highlight was my weekly Facetime call that afternoon with Amanda who I will be seeing again soon in Yorkshire this time. 

Tuesday was busy. Most of this week I have been on the phone to estate agencies about the sale of the house in Asturias. I went out in the morning to do a quick shop and brought the food home for lunch and then went out again. I went to Centro Oeste shopping centre to get Oli's present. She wanted a summer hat from Bimba y Lola. From there I drove to the local private hospital, Quirón, in Pozuelo for a follow up appointment with my urogynecologist, who operated on me last October. She did an MOT on my down belows and gave me a 10 out of 10. I am so glad I had the op and so grateful to her for doing such a good job. I really am a new woman, down there at least, hahaha. I think we sort of like each other and she told me I was fun and that I always brighten up her day. I asked whether she has watched Call the Midwife but no, hahaha.  On my way home I filled up the tank of the Mini, the only car we had this week for the three of us which was a bit of a bind until Miguel lent us his spare  Golf on Friday.  I am happy to announce our new VW T-Roc will be ready this Tuesday at noon. Eladio said he would take it to bed with him if he could get it up the stairs.He is more excited about it than I am. The Volvo was towed away that day to the scrap heap and my husband felt emotional about it. I didn't. I loved it when I got it as my Nokia car but at 24 years old it felt like driving a dinosaur. 

We were joined for dinner by Jesús, a young Mexican guest who was very friendly. We spoke a lot about Mexico and the problems it has and whether he had felt any racism in Spain. That's a difficult topic I suppose. But on the whole Spain is one of the least racist countries I know and mostly the Latin Americans blend in very well, not so much the North Africans probably because of religion or that's what my husband thinks. 

We went to bed that night eager to watch the news as that was the day Zapatero was charged. More and more information is coming out of his wrongdoings. I think the USA has had a lot to do with his being charged after taking over the country. They must have found out about his oil commissions and money laundering and liaised with the Spanish police. The main charge in Spain is of his help to bail out a dubious aling airline, Plus Ultra for which he supposedly received 1 million euros in commission. No doubt he slept very badly that night. He is apparently entrenched in his luxurious house on the outskirts of Madrid. He must have thought he was untouchable but he is not and didn't hide his tracks very well, using burner phones. Any one who uses a burner phone is suspicious  I think. 

On Wednesday we had a meeting with our bank about the potential sale of the house in Asturias and what to do with the money. More importantly, how to avoid paying very hefty taxes to Sanchez' government; more than 50.000 euros!  There is a way out for those over 70 which will be me in February. Some sort of lifelong fund which you can draw the interest from monthly without touching the capital. It was something we have to investigate and we will probably need a lawyer. We then went for a coffee to muse over the information and then onto Majadahonda, a rich town nearby to take my dear mother's turquoise engagement ring to be mended as one of the stones has broken and a tiny diamond is missing. It means so much to me I have to have it mended. 

We had lunch outside and then I had two calls from more estate agencies and a sudden same day booking for my father's room which Jesús  had left in the morning. Fran came a while later and we ushered him in. He is a specialist in mending cars that have been affected by hail of all things and comes from Jaén in the south where it probably never hails. In his sector he seems important. More importantly for Eladio, he knows a lot about cars and of course they talked about my husband's new toy, the T-Roc, hahah.

Oli and the kids came unexpectedly and I was probably a bit tired and overwhelmed with so much on my plate I was not the best of hosts. Sorry Oli.  I had a very bad night after that. 

Thursday dawned and that day we overcame a very big obstacle, one we have to face once a month but I can't go into that here. Thankfully, this time it went more smoothly. 

Thursday was the day Spain's Supreme Court annulled the new and awful registry of holiday homes whereby they have to have a NURA number from the Land Registry offices of their area and renew it every year. This is on top of having a regional tourist licence. Remember what I went through not only last year to get the numbers and this year to renew them? It took ages, was painful, complicated and an awful waste of time, not to mention the cost. I was furious  with Spanish bureaucracy that day. Honestly, all that work for nothing. Those who didn't obtain the number or renew it were kicked off Airbnb and Booking.  Who is going to compensate us for this? Damn the bloody system that aims to make it more and more difficult to host. But then don't they want the tourists to come? They blame Airbnb for the shortage of houses to rent but that isn't the reason for the shortage. The real reason is the squatters. People fear renting their houses long term because of squatters so they have turned to Airbnb and such which is getting more complicated. All this government has to do to improve the availability of rental houses is to stop the squatters instead of giving them rights. I would never rent out to someone long term after the Felipe Turover affair. Who would? The news made my blood boil.

We had our siesta and I am afraid to say I woke up just as we were supposed to be picking up the kids from school and taking Elliot to Athletics. I hardly ever sleep during the siesta so what happened was most unusual. What woke me up was a nightmare. My father had returned to life but in two people and in his dying state. I was trying to call for help and my voice wouldn't work. All I could see was him being taken away on a stretcher smiling at me. I woke up crying. We were only 10 minutes late but got into trouble of course. We took Elliot to the gym and then Juliet to the park after which Eladio had to go and get Elliot and bring him back - school rounds - we seem to be going back in time. It was hot at the park so we didn't spend long there and brought our grandchildren home. They behaved very well, after several warnings, hahaha. They had their dinner and their bath after which they were allowed to watch Peppa Pig - Juliet on my iPad on my desk and Elliot Mario Brothers on Netflix from my bed. Here are the little minxes.

A bit of screen time for Juliet and Elliot when we had to babysat for them on Thursday

When Miguel came for them and before going to bed ourselves, I checked in for our Ryanair flights to Manchester this Thursday. Previously and thanks to bloody Brexit, I had got Eladio his ETA visa for the UK and had to find it. I filled everything out only to realise there were only boarding passes for me. Eladio was to be given his at checkout. I later read that after Brexit and the new visa, this is common practice. Why can't life be easier?

Friday was 22nd May and my younger daughter, Olivia's 41st birthday. How can that be? I was up early to make her cake, my version of a Victoria Sandwich cake. I made the sponge and with a little bit of help from AI, it came out fluffier which is what I had aimed for. Later Suzy helped me with the filling - jam, strawberries and cream and the icing. A while after I decorated it with more fruit. I had found some lovely candles at a Chinese shop - the cheapo ones that are everywhere in Spain and where you can get everything including the kitchen sink. This was the result.

The cake I made for Olivia's birthday on Friday

Thursday was my Mounjaro day, the day of my second injection. I was over the moon to see I had lost 1.5kg in just one week.

We went out first for a coffee at Alverán. From there we went to do the biggest shopping we have done in a while. I wanted to leave loads of provisions for Tana and Suzy. We staggered into the kitchen with all the bags. Talking about bags, my lovely cross over Uniqlo  shoulder bag arrived  that afternoon which I shall be using all summer. It's perfect for travelling too and I love white in the summer because it goes with everything. This is it.

My new bag from Uniqlo for the summer. 

While Eladio and Suzy went to get Miguel's Golf at his brother's house on the other side of Madrid, I started on the preparations for Oli's birthday dinner which, of course, was to be fish in beer batter with chips and my version of mushy peas. They included mint from Tana's herb and strawberry garden or rather a few pots by the pool. 

It was very hot but just cool enough to eat outside at 9 pm. Before we tucked in, Tana took a photo of us which I want to share here.

Official birthday photo - dinner on Friday night

We actually had a lovely time and both kids behaved although poor Juliet was sick a couple of times , probably from too many sweets at the park. Thankfully, she was ok yesterday. Here is a video Miguel took and some more photos.  I have chosen the one of Suzy with Oli and the kids as this week's feature photo. 

A video and some photos of Oli's birthday dinner on Friday 

Owing to Mounjaro I couldn't eat much but enjoyed the dinner.  I slept really badly that night but was up super early as usual the next day. That was Saturday and we had to take care of the kids all day as Oli and Suzy's friends were taking Oli away for a surprise night away which was no longer a surprise as Miguel had let the cat out of the bag. Being the weekend, Suzy couldn't go which upset me. Honestly, couldn't their friends have taken her somewhere nearer so Suzy could join them in the afternoon, or even better, organise a way to celebrate the birthday to include her sister? Sorry, just saying. 

Oli arrived with the kids around 10.30 and then she went. We took them out in the Mini with little Pippa to Centro Oeste where they have little electric cars kids can drive. This is them with Eladio just as  we got to the centre.

Arriving at Centro Oeste shopping centre in Majadahonda with the kids and Pippa. 

They were delighted with their cars and it was great to see what good drivers they are, avoiding people and having a grand time.

The kids had a grand time on their cars at Centro Oeste yesterday

Before continuing, I had a coffee and the kids had a donut and a biscuit. As usual, my frugal husband had nothing. From there we drove to a lovely park - Parque Miguel Angel Blanco - in Boadilla near their house but it was a bit hot again so we soon came home. 

We gave them their lunch and then tried to have a siesta. Juliet went with Suzy and Elliot with us. They behaved but were soon bored of adults trying to sleep so we took them downstairs and offered them the chance to swim in the pool. They had all the paraphernalia we never had for our kids but were still reluctant to go in the water which was cold. Eladio got out a huge inflatable lilo in the shape of a unicorn which they loved but didn't manage to get into haha. Here is a photo of that moment.

Pool time yesterday with the kids

They ended up hitting each other so we offered a distraction, sandwiches in the kitchen. Elliot loved his avocado and salmon sandwich and Juliet preferred milk and biscuits. They then spent time drawing until Miguel, their father arrived. That was when grandparent duty was over. We had some very good moments. Tana commented that the kids behave a lot better when their parents aren't there, hahaha.

Only then did I have time to start writing this week's post which meant I missed the news in bed with Eladio, something I hate to miss, even if I already know what the news is and it's never good is. Iran, Ukraine and Gaza  continue to lack any peace treaty and we are now reading a lot about what is going on in Cuba or what  Trump's intentions may be. Not good. However last night he announced that a peace deal with Iran is imminent. I'm not sure I believe him.

But today is another day. It is Sunday and we have no plans, no appointments and no tasks to perform. So no doubt it will be a quiet day which I definitely need after so much stress this week. 

Next week I will be writing from the Midland Hotel in Bradford. No one goes to Bradford for tourism; me neither but  some of my roots are there as I lived at 6 Heaton Grove on Manningham Lane from the age of 8 or 9 until I left for Spain in 1981 aged 24, if you don't include my time at Nottingham University. Once again, it will a trip down memory lane.

Cheers then to you all until next week,

Masha