Whether you're considering your move to Spain or already live here, it's always refreshing to hear about others' stories and find out about some of the people who live here. That's why we are conducting quick 10-minute interviews with colleagues, clients, friends and acquaintances so you get an insight into the type of people living here and day-to-day life here in Spain!

Hazel Allington is a regular attendee to our Professional Networking Events on the Costa del Sol and owns several holiday lets in the UK and Spain and a buy-to-let business, together with her husband, Andrew Allington. Hazel and Andrew have lived on the Costa del Sol since 2018 and is keen to tell us their story of moving to Spain.

1. How long have you lived on the Costa del Sol for?

Almost five years in total. We first lived in San Pedro de Alcantara, Marbella, then moved to the Alhaurin el Grande / Coin area. Moving to Spain and setting up our home business was totally unplanned and unexpected. I have a fun and rather miraculous story behind our move, which I have added at the end if you wish to read it.

2. What made you want to open a business on the Costa del Sol?

Andrew and I didn't plan to open a business on the Costa del Sol. From my point of view, it evolved through prayer, following divine guidance and inspiration, plus a labour of love, stress, sweat and intercessory tears, and plenty of financial investment. Andrew and I are creative entrepreneurs who love projects and creating beautiful, uplifting spaces. We have a highly popular, all-year-round holiday rental (Fern House, Grassington - where they are filming BBC TV Series ‘All Creatures Great and Small’) and a couple of other large rental properties in cultural, historic and nature-rich settings in the UK. Developing high-quality property rentals in Spain along the same cultural, historical, and nature-rich lines was a natural progression.

3. What’s the best thing about the Costa del Sol as a place to live, in your opinion?

Sunshine, space, fresh, healthy food, lovely people - including a fun, capable ex-pat and Spanish community (visit ARCH Horse Rescue Spain if you'd like to meet some). I also appreciate the beautiful natural setting and easy access to high-quality facilities and services such as well-resourced supermarkets, including organic and gluten/dairy-free produce, farmers and other markets, cafes, shops, unique local businesses and industrial estates selling all the supplies needed for creative projects.

Our young daughter Grace and I are horse lovers. This area is a horse-lover’s dream, and we have many wonderful, high-quality equestrian-related activities and experiences to choose from. We especially love 'Ride with Me, Ride in Spain (Coin)', which offers beautiful Spanish equestrian experiences in stunning natural surroundings (you can trek for miles and miles), and also 'Los Prados Equestrian, a big-hearted, British-run livery yard near Alhaurin El Grande.

4. Give us a brief description of what you get up to on your usual working day.

I try to spend at least one hour each day studying Spanish. I have found learning the language difficult, so until recently, I have been a world-class procrastinator and made close to zero progress. For various reasons, I am now determined to get there.

I am intuitive and don't often work in traditional ways. I spend much time at our beautiful Cortijo working supernaturally through prayer, holy scripture, energetic/spiritual clearing and healing, visualisation and meditation. I love the creativity, inspired action and provision that follows this type of approach and, of course, the divine surprise - which at times, takes my breath away.

5. How has business been for you in the past two years?

Fun, challenging, difficult, and inspiring, with many lessons and blessings thrown in along the way. We have welcomed many lovely and interesting guests, including an Italian Buddhist nun living in the UK, a Russian seaman, a young Swiss crypto-currency dealer, Canadian honeymooners, clergy families, plus many others seeking an attractive and peaceful space for upliftment and healing, holiday relaxing/touring. We also enjoy welcoming guests who are exploring what it might be like to relocate to Spain and purchase/run a countryside property.

We are still growing and evolving, receiving excellent, 5-star rated feedback and repeat guest bookings. Long winter lets have been great, including renting out our two-bedroom Garden Apartment over the winter of 22/23 for six months to a delightful French couple and their elderly beagle dog - before the end of their stay, they ensured that they re-booked for seven months for winter 23/24.

6. How do you enjoy spending your weekends and free time?

I live free-flow. I try to be open to following what I feel inspired and guided to do in the present moment, so I don't distinguish between work, weekends and free time.

I enjoy visiting Cafe Nomad by the beach in Fuengirola and meeting friends in Mijas Pueblo, where our daughter Grace enjoys organic ice cream at the Chocolate Factory. I can also usually find time to shop for a pretty dress or two.

7. If you could be in charge of any other business here on the Costa del Sol for a day, which would it be and why?

I'm happy doing what I am doing and wouldn't want the stress of being in charge of any other business. I'd much prefer to spend a day in the Andalucian countryside on horseback with good company.

8. What’s your favourite food?

Chocolate! Though for health reasons, I strictly follow a ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting (Dr Eric Berg, YouTube). I have to make do with cacao mixed with peanut butter and stevia. It's not quite the same as a creamy bar of chocolate or a delicious piece of cake!

9. Describe what your perfect home on the Costa del Sol would be like and where it would be.

I love where we are and feel blessed that we purchased such a beautiful and conveniently located Cortijo. Being a highly sensitive introvert who tends to be a hermit sometimes, I wouldn't mind having an apartment by a secluded beach where I could retreat.

10. Who would be your perfect dinner guest?

Jesus Christ - whom I believe is King of the Universe. I expect we could have some fascinating conversations, and I could gain some remarkable life and business tips and skills! I would also pull up a chair for Holy Mary - who is a wonderful supernatural warrior, advocate and friend.

11. What would you like to ask your next “10 Minutes with” guest?

Who are your role models?

Here's our story about our relocation to Spain!

Our Unexpected Journey to Spain...

While living in the UK, when Andrew was working as the Associate Rector in the idyllic Yorkshire Dales village of Burnsall, I inwardly began to loudly hear the chorus words to a popular REM song. 'It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...' I don't usually listen to mainstream music, so I knew it wasn’t just a memory. The words rang out in my mind joyfully and wouldn’t stop until I paid attention. I pondered and prayed, “How could one feel fine when it was the end of the world as we know it?”

Despite my best efforts, and the attractive newly decorated grand Georgian Rectory by the Dales Way on the River Wharfe, which came as part of Andrew’s job, I could not settle in the UK. I had a strong sense that I was supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else. I had no clue what.
Then sometime later, while on a campervan trip, the word 'Marbella' began to appear in my mind. I knew Marbella was in Spain, but not where, so I researched and found it was on the Costa del Sol. After prayer, discernment and some physical happenings that possibly pointed towards us moving, we packed up, sold, auctioned or gave away most of our belongings (including the antiquest we had purchased for the grand Georgian rectory - my big lesson in detachment!). With budget one-way plane tickets in hand, we headed to San Pedro de Alcantara, Marbella, Spain.

With a lack of planning, Andrew having already taken early retirement from a job that provided social status, salary and housing and the uncertainty of Brexit looming, people thought we were insane.

We loved our time in San Pedro. There wasn't much to dislike with sunshine, a family-friendly feel, play parks, high-quality new-builds and infrastructure, neatness and order, cycle tracks, beach, oceanside promenade, organic restaurants, and fantastic weather. Grace made friends with children in the school and began to pick up some Spanish.

After a couple of potential house purchases falling through and getting a sense that we wanted a more community feel and natural setting, a friend we'd met at our daughter's school suggested a place called Coin. We'd never heard of it, so she took us there. Not knowing what else to do, we rented a holiday home near the school our daughter was to attend. Not long after, God guided me to discover a delightful rental villa in Las Lomas, in the fertile hills between Alhaurin el Grande and Coin. By this time, we were keen to purchase a home and develop a project, and with this involving such a substantial investment, we searched near and far for the right location and property - even inland, in Sotogrande and beyond.

We had many false starts and stretched our lawyer's time and patience to the limit by having him research numerous potential property purchases in all sorts of places.

Someone online advised, 'If you want a small fortune on the Costa del Sol, come over with a large one!' So we sought to be wise and discerning, which helped us avoid several expensive pitfalls.

With the end of our one-year rental approaching and the owner claiming we would need to pay him much higher weekly holiday rental rates beyond our tenancy, the heat was on to find our dream home. Not knowing what else to do, I prayed and worked spiritually. It popped into my mind to visit a Cortijo that we had viewed over a year previously. Though in a prime location with 13,000 m2 of land, the place was a fixer-upper beyond what we or our budget were willing to take on. I mentioned the Cortijo to Andrew and he flat-out refused to see it. “Absolutely no way!” he said. I sensed that we needed to view the property, and with no other viable purchase options available, Andrew eventually agreed to a viewing, “Just to humour me,” he said.

We took with us a friend whom we call our ‘builder angel’ - an incredibly creative and knowledgeable British builder/designer we had met at a local horse riding event. With over 40 years of UK and Spanish property experience, including upmarket London and Spanish Campo, it was helpful to have someone with us with such a well-trained eye. Almost as soon as we stepped onto the property, we both knew it was the right place for us. Since our previous visit, the price had been reduced by over €100,000. Considering what work we thought was needed (there was actually plenty more!), we made an offer which was accepted.

And with perfect synchronicity, we purchased it from a British woman also named Hazel!

We moved in one week before the first lockdown in Spain. The house was far from my ideal decor and layout - salmon pink and avocado green 70's bathroom offering a broken toilet and a dribble of water from the sink taps, was not my style! The house and land needed a vast amount of work, and we celebrated on the occasional times we found something working correctly. Still, with so much beauty, space, sunshine, good weather, and the adventures we had to get to where we were, we had no chance of feeling victimised, hemmed in, or bored. Every day (and this continues), we'd feel amazed and delighted by the nature-rich land with stunning views. We knew we were blessed, fortunate and in the right place. Though, ‘It’s the end of the world as we know it’, beneath the everyday work and stress of property development, business and family life, we do indeed feel fine.