The Spanish way of working

There is a mis-impression amongst the English that the Spaniards work ethos is enshrined in a ‘mañana’ (tomorrow) attitude, where hard work is avoided in favour of long coffee breaks, even longer lunches, and an afternoon siesta. The Spanish work ethic is questioned and questionable, with the mere mention of a Spanish builder often greeted with smirks and shakes of the head.

My boys (Facundo, Pepe, Vladimir, Roman and Alejandro) are doing their utmost to dispel these stereotypes, and are flying the flag for a highly productive and impressive Galician building profession.

I spent the day at the house. I arrived just after eight with the boys already hard at work, and I left just after six, with them still going at it (I wasn’t, I was shattered). Admittedly they took an hour and a half for lunch, but not a single break for a coffee in the entire day. They will have stayed until dusk, as they have every other day I’ve been up there, putting in a ten hour day.

Newly pointed walls using traditional methods Pepe reconstructing the door return in local stone

Alejandro turning an old doorway into a new window

The hard graft is now finished and the true artisanship has started. Pace has apparently slowed as they lay in new stone around the newly formed windows and undertake the painstaking and detailed pointing using ancient materials and techniques. Their detailed work is a delight to watch.

Roman doing a bit of pointing

The results are mightily impressive. At the present time I am certain that we have chosen the correct builders to sympathetically restore our barn into a residence of beauty. I am very impressed with progress so far.

Next stop; concrete for the first floor and then taking the roof off.

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