"We bought a zoo!" That is what first came to my mind when my friend told me that his parents had bought an animal park in Spain that they were going to transform to a bed and breakfast. The building started out as a farm, but ended up in the hands of a count who had a passion for collecting all sorts of animals, ranging from ferrets, to monkeys and deer. That collection quickly became an attraction for many people and a restaurant and hotel were added to the site. A few years ago, in 2009, the park did no longer meet the requirements for the well being of the animals and the park had to close. It has been abandoned for a few years until the property was bought by some crazy Belgians with a dream.
Photo of the main building taken by a drone
I haven't been very active lately and that is largely because I went on a trip to Spain to help with the renovations. Since it was abandoned for some years, squatters took shelter in the buildings and all rooms were littered in garbage and sheets. A lot of work had to be done if they wanted the b&b up an running in one year, so I decided to roll up my sleeves and give them a hand.
Where exactly in Spain?
Spain is big (for European standards at least), so first of all it might be nice for you to know where this is situated. The former animal park is located near the "Costa Brava", which is Catalan for wild coast (yes Catalonia, the region fighting for independence). And this can be found in the Northeast of Spain near the border with France.
Image from google earth
If we zoom in closer we can eventually see the domain which is about 3 acres or 1.2 hectares and still contains many of the cages for small animals.
Image from google earth
The work that has to be done
As I mentioned before, the building has been abandoned for quite some years and all rooms were littered with garbage. A first priority was to clean all this mess so you can see the potential of the building. Already 50 trailers of trash have been brought to the recycling center and the place is finally starting to look clean. When this is done, some minor reparations have to be done to roofs and walls, and rooms have to be created and furnished for future guests.
And this is where they are now, most of the debris is cleared out and the actual renovations can begin. They are planning to open in the beginning of 2019 and if you want to read more about them, you can visit their website:
http://masdelllopblanc.com/home-english/
Their website is not yet completed as they aren't expecting guests for the coming year, but they post updates every once in a while.
Road trip back to Belgium
After spending my time there, Me and my friend returned to Belgium, "à l'aise". We visited some cities on our way back such as Pamplona, Zaragoza, San Sebastian and Orleans. We took our time (3 days) for a trip of approximately 1400 km (870 miles) And finally arrived back home (yesterday).
Cathedral of "El Pilar" in the city of Zaragoza
Fun Fact!
Some of you might remember my old post about square waves? I happened to see them on a stop in San Sebastian! If you want to know the theory, it is the post before this one, but it occurs when two wave systems collide and interfere. The two systems causing waves in this situation are the incoming waves from the sea, and the waves reflected from the pier.
Hereby I hoped to give you an update on what is going on and from now on I hope to be more active again!
See you next time.