Hugh Arbuthnott grew up amidst the stunning vistas of southern Spain, so it was no surprise that he wanted to move back when he left the army this year.
“It was after an excellent dinner party that my father was offered the chance to buy a 500 acre farm in Almuña, southern Spain; it was thanks to rioja that he made the decision that was to change our lives for ever.
My parents bought the property and started to build a holiday house, intending to create a modest and practical Andalucían hideaway. As with so many of these things it started to overrun and get bigger and bigger: the house was 6ft higher than it was meant to be, over-budget and impossible to manage from London. Disillusioned and disheartened, my parents realised that the only possibilities were either to sell it as it stood or move out to Spain and finish it themselves.
In the autumn of 1989, having sold their business, put their house on the market and pulled their children out of comfortable London schools, Hugh and Jane Arbuthnott, along with their children, Arabella, 9, and Hughie, 7 (me), left Battersea for a complete change of direction.
As a family we finished the house, picked up Spanish with broad Andaluz accents, adopted a stray dog and kittens and started a walking holiday company. My father would spend days in the mountains talking to goat herders, muleteers, farmers and landowners, finding off-the-beaten-track walks and charming places to stay. For over twenty years my family has made its living taking groups through the sensational sierras of southern Spain. We have created relationships with some of the most remarkable people and have developed a team of loyal and charming staff from the local villages.
This year I set out to join my parents with my gorgeous new wife, Clare. Being the 21st century, we took the Eurotunnel to start us on our life-changing journey to Almuña. It seemed a world away from Germany and the Army, which had been my adult life up until then. Clare, meanwhile, had been working as the Latin American expert for a travel company in London.
As new members of staff, we spend a lot of our time learning from the team and my parents. Clare and I have moved into a charming little house with glorious views of the pillars of Hercules, in the village of Gaucin where I used to go to school. I’m still the only Guzman El Bueno old boy ever to have been commissioned into the 9th/12th Royal Lancers! We love our 10-minute commute down to Almuña, where my parents still live, although my old bedroom is now our office.
We have integrated back into Gaucin life and Clare has started to develop the Andaluz accent of my childhood. She loves walking through the narrow whitewashed streets, kissing tiny grannies all in black, who are so amused that we’ve returned after so many years. It takes us an age to walk through the squares, as we chat and catch up on village life.
We wanted to be independent as well as involved with my parents’ business. We have started our own company alongside my parents, so that we can still help them as much as possible, yet be able to spread our wings. Over the years, the company has adapted and expanded, yet maintained throughout our emphasis on looking after people, delicious home-cooked food and great wine.
Clare and I escort holidays to Chile and Argentina in January and February, two countries that are very close to our hearts. We spent the first six months of our marriage working on a riding estancia in Argentina. We also lead walks in the Rif Mountains of Northern Morocco and organise house parties at Almuña for families, the young and the old, as well as sporting weekends, historical tours, painting holidays and a plethora of other activities that are diverse and entertaining.
Part of the great joy for us is looking after people, nurturing others, getting to know them and ensuring that they leave cosseted and having had a blissful time. They spend their days exploring this idyllic part of the world. It’s what we’d always hoped to create, and our family is always together. Who could ask for anything more than that?”
www.arbuthnottholidays.com
