DO THE SPANISH EAT DONUTS? Part One.
During one phase of my long life, I was a Market Trader. I sold many different products and travelled hundreds of miles all over the South of England attending markets. It was hard work, but a lot of fun. I worked as I have so many times with my wife Joyce, and we made a great team.
We worked at various times in Hampshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and as far as the Midlands. We looked forward to the Summer, Markets in Devon. With many tourists travelling to that county, it was a lucrative area to work in. Apart from our "regular" markets our ears were always open to hear of other good ones.
It was on the Devon Markets that we heard tale of Traders going to Spain for the winter to escape the conditions here. It's no joke standing in the rain, wind and snow. It's even worse having to get up out of your warm bed to go to the market on freezing roads, often for very little money. Apart from the Christmas run up, where business picks up, winter markets are not the nicest place to be in England !
Devon was the place that drastically changed our way of marketing and our life. It was where I met and became friends with a Trader and his wife, John and Val. They told us that they went to Spain each winter, not as Market Traders but just for a long holiday. Our conversations turned to markets in Spain, and we learned that many of the traders from England would go and work on the Spanish markets in the Sunny Winter.
They now had my attention! How many times had I dug snow out of a pitch, in freezing temperatures, just to get my stall set up!
They told us how they based themselves in Benidorm, on a Campsite within ten minutes walk to the centre of town. Right on the Mediterranean Sea
Well that was enough for us to start to plan, with their help, a trip to Spain.. There were Markets all around the Benidorm area, and apart from some Markets being for the Spanish Traders only, most other European nationals, were free to work on markets because of the new European rules . With this information I pestered them for all the information I could about the Markets and about Spain itself. I had only one problem -I had never been to Spain!,
Well with-out the long story, my wife and I decided to go on this adventure. What would we sell? I had a Donut Machine which we were currently using, and thought, why not! So our plans were made to leave the country, I had a Transit Van, a large Caravan, and enough stock to last for six months. That consisted of about half a ton of donut mix. Gas and cooking oil for the machine and all the rest of the stall and related items for that plus all the things we would need for our personal well being. Wow! were we loaded, and we had a thousand miles to go!
It was that after our summer markets had finished, our friends agreed to "Show us the way to Spain," The day arrived for us all to set off, heavily loaded , even the Transit seemed eager to go. We boarded the ferry at Portsmouth and it was to take us to Santander via the notorious Bay of Biscay . Luckily the passage was smooth, and two days later saw us embarking onto Spanish soil. And the Sun was shining ! We followed our friends with their car and caravan to Benidorm, and it was nice to have company on this our very first venture into Spain.
We arrived in Benidorm three days later, after a long journey only stopping at Motorway Stations and for fill ups, We were both anxious to get to the destination, but still a little wary of this new adventure. We arrived at a campsite called La Torreta, and got settled in. It was only just a ten minute walk to the centre of Benidorm, just as they had told us, and the beach with the Mediterranean lapping at the sand.
But first priority was to book in for my first market. Now if you want to get on a market in Spain, and you've never been there before and you don't know any Spanish language. That's a pretty daunting task. Remember I had never been to Spain before!.
My phrase book gave me two words, and I knew por favor, (please). Well most people do! I spotted the words Plaza and Domingo, and decided this was all I had to remember. Hm.. not much you can do with that in a conversation! But it might work. So it was a trip to the Town Hall, and find the market office.
OK here goes, "Plaza, Domingo, por favor"
Well I must have hit the right words as an official looked at me for a second and much to my relief, a pad was produced and The Man rattled off some Spanish at me and thrust a paper with a pitch number and the cost towards me. I paid hurriedly and left.
The market was just outside Benidorm, and I had a pitch in La Nucia where the town hall was.
Oh and my Spanish words? Plaza, Domingo, por favor.( Pitch, Sunday, Please.)
I am glad to say that the people at the market on Sunday were a real mixture, seemingly most had come to Spain from England to avoid the winter there. And they all liked donuts! The Traders were Spanish, English, Dutch and German, and we got on well with them all.
We joined other markets and it was not long before we started using Spanish words and understanding maybe more than we knew. Three markets a week was enough to keep us in Spain from October till May. What a wonderful time we had. working just three days a week and the rest of the time enjoying the Sun and finding our way round Spain. Eventually of course, we had to return to do our regular and summer markets. But this journey, thanks to our friends, was a real adventure and holiday in one.
This was in 1995 and for the next six years we went to Spain for the Winter. with the lovely weather, Christmases in the hot sun and a new host of camping friends and traders welcoming us back.
We still go to see friends in Spain, but have long since given up the Market life. We look back and say, it was some of the best times of our life. My point to this story (if there is a point) is that sometimes you just have to get up and go, even if you don't know what's on the other side.
That's why as a pensioner now, I am attempting to do a bit of blogging. I may not get it right, but I'm going to have fun trying.
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