Property of the week Casa Cayetano near Huercal-Overa

NEW & EXCLUSIVE LISTING TO VOSS HOMES ­

A quaint and quirky, renovated, two bed, one bath, full of character country / hamlet house for sale in the Huercal­Overa area of approx 100m2 with H&C air con, amazing country views and approx 1,800m2 of land. Four mins drive to Santa Maria village with mini supermarket, bar / restaurants, doctors, chemist and school.

The village of El Puertecico village with a restaurant is also four mins drive away. The main still Spanish market town (Mon and Thurs mornings) of Huercal­Overa with hospital and numerous shops, supermarkets, restaurants, sporting and leisure facilities and historic buildings is just 12 mins drive away, as is the A7 motorway.

The beaches at San Juan de Los Terreros, Mojacar, Vera and Garrucha are all within a 40 to 45 min drive.

Casa Cayetano is ideal for someone looking for a cosy country property as a full time home, first step on the Spanish property ladder or holiday home with rental potential. The house has traditional wooden beamed ceilings and doors and rustic tiled floors throughout.

The house forms part of a small, peaceful hamlet and is attached on two sides to two other houses. The patio garden is private and the walls are so thick you won’t hear the neighbours. Safe parking is next to the house. A great place to enjoy the peace and quiet and privacy and if you wished, ideal for learning the language from the Spanish neighbours. There is no passing traffic.

To the front of the house is a small paved, walled patio with a Florida style meshed enclosure which makes a lovely relaxing area with amazing views down the valley. The front door email us on enquiries@vosshomesspain.com.

FRAUD in the British expat community appears endemic but much of it is hidden by the victims themselves who are reluctant to come forward to report it to the authorities.

This reticence only feeds an industry that lives off the savings and income of people who had hoped to be able to live the dream in Spain.

The dream often becomes a nightmare and for some that nightmare starts almost on arrival in Spain. Sometimes the fraud is so blatant that one is left in a state of bewilderment as to how someone had fallen for it ­ but they did, they do, and they will.

We were alerted to a couple whose dream move from Britain to Spain hit the rocks on arrival. They were in their mid50s, had been working all their lives, working people with a work ethic and were looking for a new challenge. They did their research too ­ this was no spur of the moment decision but one they thought through. They decided to buy a business ­ a going concern which had

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76,950 euros leads into the main living room with log burning fire place and H&C air con. premises and what they liked was an apartment upstairs where they would be able to live while they made it work.

To the right is a room currently used as a second living room but this could easily be used as a second bedroom or study etc.

To the left is a door taking you in to the dining room and then an archway leading into the fitted kitchen with lots of worktop and storage cupboards.

Also from the main living room is another room which again is currently used as a living / storage room but could also be used as a bedroom or study etc. Here you find the stairs leading you up to the main double bedrooom with H&C aircon and ceiling fan.

Another room off the main living room is the family bathroom which is large enough also to be a utility room. Outside, as well as the patio garden with meshed enclosure over the lane and directly opposite the house are a series of garden terraces with safe steps leading you down to each terrace and then down on to a flat field of approx 1,380 m2, which would be great for planting or keeping animals. There is also a metal garden shed.

They went to a lawyer, they checked Facebook groups and took holidays to get acquainted with the area and its population ­ their new customers and checked out a few social groups in the area.

In this they met a man who seemingly was connected and respected in the communityhe told them their idea was a great one ­ in fact they were onto something. He also mentioned that he knew someone who had a similar business with premises and apartment which due to a need for an urgent sale was at a bargain price ­ they had to hurry of courseanother party was drawing up the paperwork.

Out went common sense and in came the biggest mistake of their lives. They rushed through the sale ­ paid in cash at a notary ­ which later turned out to be a front and handed over all their life savings ­ in return for… nothing.

There was no business, no apartment and as quickly as he appeared he was off the scene. And as quickly their lives ruined and upended ­ the British Benevolent Fund were able to provide some emergency accommodation and a flight home. They filed a police report but as they left the country it wasn’t followed up.

The perpetrator is still out there ­ along with many others ­ if it’s too good to be true it really is… too good to be true. olaf.clayton@british benevolentfund.org

Norajohnson Breakingviews

THE UK’s got on and off strikes all over the place, a government at war with itself, inflation through the roof, the NHS in meltdown, war in Europe, a vegetable shortage and nothing works any more. And don’t get me started on flippin’ potholes. Or those intense bearded chaps doing nine­course tasting menus from reconditioned barns, celebrating ‘nature’s bounty’.

And then we read that a restaurant in Mayfair is selling the most expensive tins of seafood money can buy: £31 for a can of tuna or cockles for £56. Not to mention the Michelin­starred Welsh restaurant, Ynyshir, with its £350 tasting menu lasting five hours. With reservations reportedly snapped up immediately, most diners stay the night in the restaurant’s attached rooms (from a further £145 a head).

My flabber’s never been so gasted!

Well, that’s all very well for the likes of Tristan and Jocasta Gallivant­Jodhpur, Jemima Moneybags­Cashpot and Sophia Excess­Capital, but what about the rest of us?

I know the difference between the haves and have­nots is a minor problem compared to world peace, reality TV and why the slow­