nothing but a spanish fireplace - part 1

Spain is a popular destination for fun, sun and the sea for most Europeans. A lot of people  come to Spain to escape cold Central & Northern Europe.

Though Spain´s temperature is milder than the rest of the  continent, it can also be very cold there at nights  particularly when you live up in the mountain.

Most houses in the campo/countryside have a fireplace which is either in form of an open fire, a cast iron stove or  built-in with bricks. This is a necessity for every farmer living in remote mountain areas that aren´t covered by electricity. 

In modern times, solar panels are a great help for those  who cannot afford to get electrical connections. Obtaining  electricity by installing  thousands of cables  from one mountain to another  is very expensive....

Spain, due to its warm climate is the most ideal place to have those solar panels because  it has  plenty of sun almost all year-round.

Speaking of fireplace, we´ve been wanting 

to install one in spanish style. 

 So, when 

a local  chimney store made  rebajas/sale recently,  we snapped one of their window 

displays and we finally got the fireplace  we 

wanted at 50% off its original price.

 It´s design is very simple.. yet, it fits perfectly to what we have in mind.

Once delivered, we commissioned our spanish neighbour Tomas to install the base.....He is a mason by trade but he is a multi tasker too, doing plumbing as well as electrical works, gardening and many other things. So it´s very handy to have him as he lives nearby . 

He mounted the base of the fireplace that included the stone  in the corner of the living room just the way we wanted it to be.

Olive woods are popularly used by the locals for heating...they are in abundance in Andalucia as farmers grow olives mostly because the trees need little water compared to the avocados. 

Cut olive firewood (branches) could pick-up a price between  70-80 Euros per cubic meter and the supply could last longer say  for a month, depending on how long you set your  heating requirements. 

Well, our fireplace is now done and the first heating had been tested (above photo). We are absolutely satisfied with its function. As for now,   we are just waiting for our chance to have the next vacation, and we´re looking forward to find the perfect tiles to 

decorate the hood ...

.... and hopefully  that  would be sooner.

Thank you for reading this blog!!!

Til next, 

Mercy