Journey back from Mérida, home again, the end of our 24 year old Volvo, buying a new car, selling a house, dealing with an illegal Airbnb party in our own house, on Mounjauro again and other stories of the week.

 Madrid, Sunday, 17th May, 2026

Nearly home - in Madrid last Sunday waiting for a taxi.

Good morning again. As you can see from the headline, it has been an extremely busy week. So let me get on and tell you all about it.

This time last Sunday we were enjoying our last breakfast at the Parador in Mérida. It was my last "pantagruelic" meal of our trip and thank God it was the last. I weighed myself this week and have put on 6 kilos since February, 7 since last August when I stopped taking Mounjaro. It was time to go on the pen again.

You may remember our 24 year old, not so trusty Volvo had broken down in Jerez. So we were given a rented car, a lovely Volkswagen T-Cross to drive home from Huelva and stopped for one night in Mérida. Driving it made us realise we had been driving a dinosaur for years and were behind the times. We were indeed. As we drove back to Madrid that day we both toyed with the idea of getting a new car and probably renting it. At the time we had no idea the Volvo had died on us and was ready for the scrap heap. So we just enjoyed the car.

Eladio with the new rented car

I specially enjoyed the large touchscreen on the dashboard which we had connected Eladio's phone to. It is much like an iPad. Amazing. The drive home was smooth but interrupted as we had to leave the car at the Atocha train station and then get a taxi home. That took forever. We couldn't fathom the traffic and amount of cars on a Sunday morning at the station. I took a photo of Eladio with all our luggage while waiting for the insurance company to send us a taxi for the final stretch of our journey home.

We didn't get back till past 4 pm and there was Tana who had rustled up a late lunch for us, bless her. All the weekend guests had gone and she had done all the rooms. She then left until Tuesday for a well deserved break.

It was good to see Suzy and Pippa of course and to unpack, wind down and generally settle in again which always takes time.  It was sunny but cold in Madrid as it has been most of the week. We had had a marvelous trip but how wonderful to sleep in our own bed again.

Monday came and so did the carpenter to put in a new  cabinet under the kitchen sink. Our cupboards were bare as my online order wasn't arriving till the afternoon so I went out shopping for immediate stuff. Suzy came with me as Eladio had to be at home for the carpenter. We had coffee out and a good heart to heart. Suzy had had a great time in London but came home with a bang. She was not well on Sunday and didn't go to work unfortunately. 

The main news that day was of course the arrival of the cruise ship, the MV Hondius,  struck with Hantavirus which had docked at a port in Tenerife on Sunday morning. What a palaver to get everyone off without touching land or people. It all reminded me of Coronavirus times. Everyone disembarked and were sent to their respective countries and the operation was hailed a success. To date there are 10 cases and 3 deaths. One woman is fighting for her life in Paris. I just hope this virus is contained and does not spread further and feel for those who were on board. They had paid thousands for the trip of their life and look where that lead. 

I had my first session that afternoon with a psychologist to help deal with the stress you all know about. It was so short - just 25 minutes that I only managed to tell part of my story. Adeslas my private health insurance company allows me 10 sessions. 25 minutes is not enough so I shall reimburse the rest to make it double the time. Just as I was finishing I had to deal with the Carrefour online order arriving at home as neither Eladio nor Suzy had heard the bell. If I hadn't answered the phone during my session, the lorry would have gone away. Oh, what stress. I don't know what happened to me but when I got into the Mini to drive home, I was suddenly blocked and just couldn't remember how to get the car going. Stupid me. I am used to an automatic and maybe because I drove the Volvo which is manual, recently, I got mixed up and was pressing both pedals. I had to ring Eladio in a panic. He calmed me down and soon it all came back to me and I got home ok. 

I came home to ring Amanda for our first weekly Facetime call and she laughed when I told her I had completely forgotten how to drive. God, I must have been stressed. 

I calmed down later at wine and pistachio time with Eladio and Suzy by the pool. I had bought a bottle of "manzanilla" - the light sherry from Cádiz I had been drinking in Andalucía and probably had too much. No, I will not become a drinker. 

Tuesday brought with it the news of the end of the Volvo. The cam belt was broken so mending it would have cost a fortune. It was rather sad news. The Volvo S60 was my Nokia company car which we bought when I left  in 2006. We loved it and it has served us well for 24 years  which is quite a run.

Our Volvo which came to the end of its life this week

That had us looking into renting a car, i.e. paying monthly installments where the car isn't yours but everything is taken care of. We thought that was the way to go and had us both searching the internet in AI mode. We agreed on a Volkswagen T-Roc, bigger than the T-Cross. We wanted a good car brand and couldn''t afford a BMW or similar and didn't want an inferior brand. When you get a car through renting you don't get to see it and more or less buy it blind and on the internet. I found out that if you are over 75 you cannot rent. Ageism again. I nearly got one in about 10 minutes but then we got cold feet and thought we ought at least go and see the model. We were looking for the middle of the range of this model, the VW T-Roc Mas 1.5e TSI 85kW (116CV) DSG. We went to see it at a showroom in Majadahonda and loved it. It's been all about cars this week. 

The car we bought this week - pictures from Internet

Wednesday came and the most extraordinary thing happened. I was awake early, at about 6 am and as soon as I got up I saw a big owl perched on the ledge of our terrace. It didn't move and was staring at me. By the time I switched on my phone to take a photo, it had gone. What a beautiful moment.

The rest of the day was chaotic. We were umming and ahing about renting or buying the car and there and then decided to sell our house in El Cuetu and also buy the car. So why do we want to sell our house there? We love it but it's far away and we don't go very often. Also it's a challenge to run the rental business from Madrid. We also know it has gone up a a lot in price since we bought it in September 2020. 

Our house in El Cuetu de Meré which we have put on the market this week

With time on my hands as I have been a little out of action physically this week owing to my knee flaring up again which has ruled out our walks, I got down to advertising it on Idealista, the main Spanish portal for buying and selling houses. I asked for 200.000 euros and no sooner had I published the ad, I was inundated with calls and messages and people willing to buy it there and then without even seeing it. That made me realise I had under priced it and added 50.000. This is the advert by the way which the Portal translates into multiple languages. At the same time I was looking to buy the car and I think Wednesday was my busiest day in recent years. Of course  the people who saw the original price were not happy to see the increase but we are in no hurry and hope to get the asking price. As I have bookings for July and August, it will not be available to move into until September. I sent my Booking listing to all those who were interested as I am not selling any house, as it also functions as a holiday rental with all the correct paperwork. This is the listing on Booking. We will be sorry to see it go but I am tired of renting it from a distance. If we lived next door then I would never sell it. 

In the afternoon we visited 2 Volkswagen showrooms, one in Alcorcón and one in Majadahonda and whittled them down to the lowest price which most unfairly is higher than if it was financed but we are paying outright. In any case who would finance us at our age? Ageism again. We bought it there and then in Majadahonda. The only two available within the next week or 10 days were a white or grey model. We went for the grey. 

The day did not end well. We stayed up to midnight to receive a group of 6 guests who were from the Dominican Republic and Ecuardor. They had not communicated with me and at the last minute realised they had booked rooms with the owners living in the house rather than the whole house which made them very cross. They had not looked at the listing which makes it all very clear, nor did they pay any heed to my rules; not arriving after 10pm, not bringing unpaid guests to the house and certainly not holding parties. They arrived and we accommodated them but they were not happy and still seemed to think they had the right to the whole house which they didn't. We tried to go to bed and at 1.30 in the morning they banged on our door complaining and being very rude. They had also done the same to Suzy and even told her to leave! What awful people we thought and we were right.

On Thursday morning while I was having my coffee in the kitchen, Tana told me there was a whole group of people, up to about 15 in our study  - which is off limits to guests - drinking and smoking dope. She had even caught a couple snogging in the laundry room and told me they had used another room, one they hadn't booked. I went straight downstairs, opened the door to the study and this is what I saw.

The illegal party these awful guests had in our own home this week

I have been hosting guests since 2017 and this has never happened to me. Eladio soon got rid of the extra party people, mostly girls I suspect they had brought to our home to use as a brothel. But it was more difficult to get rid of the group of 6. I was immediately in touch with Airbnb who I have to say were splendid in helping us with the situation. They immediately cancelled the reservation and rang the guests to tell them to vacate our property; except that they wouldn't answer their phones and had to speak to Airbnb through my phone. I gave them half an hour to leave after waking them all up in 3 rooms, many of them in a state of undress. When they finally left at 1.30 we all breathed a sigh of relief. You may ask why I didn't get the police involved? I did but they said this was an issue for Airbnb to deal with and thankfully the latter dealt with the situation promptly. You read about these illegal Airbnb parties in the press which are strictly forbidden but I never thought it could actually happen in the house where we live as no guest would dare to have a party with the owners on site. These animal like people did though and good riddance to them. I am happy to know that Airbnb suspended their account. End of a horrible story my friends.

The rest of the day was bliss in comparison.  Of note I went to my GP, Elena, that afternoon to ask her to put me on Mounjaro again and bless her she did. I would start on it the next day. Why go on a difficult diet when you can get an injection to reduce your appetite and stop the food noise I say, especially at my age after being on and off diets more or less all my life? 

Oli and family came for dinner that night which put me in a great mood. We hadn't seen them since before our trip to Andalusia and we had a relaxing time together. For once, the kids behaved very well. Here is little Juliet in our laundry basket after her bath in our room, little minx.

Little Juliet in our laundry basket when they came to dinner on Thursday night

Friday was 15th May, San Isidro and a holiday in Madrid, but also the anniversary of the death of my dear brother George who died of melanoma aged 46 in 2001. Wow! If only he had lived. If only they all had lived. I have a  photo of him with me above my bed which I look at every day and I carry him in my heart. Bless you George. I loved you so much.

He would have laughed to see me on the scales. He was a tall and thin boy and I was a short and fat girl hahaha. I got on them because I wanted to start on Mounjaro. Oh dear I had put on 7 kilos since losing 11 last August. 6 were put on since Christmas probably because of all the stress. Stress always makes me eat more and I have to say we pigged it on our recent travels. I injected myself after breakfast and waited to see how long it would take to lose interest in food or lose my appetite.It didn't take long. I weighed 66 kilos and have to get down to 60. Hopefully, I will do it in 2 months. And if I have to take Mounjaro once a year to keep to that weight then I shall take it. 

It was good to talk to my dear school friend Kathy that afternoon after all we had been through. She was having her own troubles which thanks to God were quickly resolved. Now she too can live and breathe. I told her that life throws so much at us that we have to enjoy and celebrate the good days. I try to do that. 

A new guest arrived that afternoon, Jesús from Mexico. Funnily enough another Mexican young man, Diego arrived to the next day. That was Saturday and no sooner had he booked, then he arrived.Thank goodness Tana had prepared all the rooms.  He had chosen our house because we have a piano. It was my Grandmother's Broadwood and is now an antique. It was lovely to hear Diego playing it. Later two German girls arrived so the house is full this weekend but full of good guests, not those awful rappers who turned our house into a brothel!

I spent most of Saturday working, gathering all the invoices and doing the paperwork to send to our accountant to do this year's income tax returns  which I know will be hefty. It has to be done and is such a bore.

Yesterday was my dear friend Julio's 58th birthday. How can that be? We met  at Nokia when he was in his early 30's. I gave him a ring and we have agreed to meet and celebrate after our return from Yorkshire in June. 

Oli and family are in Alicante this weekend with a group of friends. There are about 24 of them and they have booked a big holiday home near Sax. I gather they are having a great time.  Here are a couple of photos which maybe one day Juliet and Elliot will see here if they read my blog.  Who knows?

The kids in Salinas, Sax, Alicante this weekend. Juliet above and Elliot (in green) below

Today is Sunday and the only plans I have are to rest my knee and continue the Inland Revenue tax return work I have to do before we got to the UK. 

Hoping you all have a good Sunday, cheers till next week,

Masha.