When Mathew Wood decided to move to Andalucia almost a decade ago, he had his sights set on the coast.
The now 51-year-old had retired early after selling his successful property business back in the UK, and was looking for a bolthole near the beach.
However, he quickly fell in love with inland Andalucia after viewing a mountainside cortijo in Granada by chance.
‘I wanted to move to the coast at first but I found it was a bit too touristy for me, then I got to know Lanjaron and loved it,’ Mathew told the Spanish Eye this week.
The Dorset native bought a farm house (cortijo) in the mountains above Lanjaron.
‘It was just 30 minutes from the beach and an hour from the skiing resort, so it was perfect,’ he explained.
The 100sqm, 2-bedroom home was surrounded by green rolling hills, but did not come with the typical amenities.
‘It had no gas, no electric, no water,’ said Mathew, ‘Water was fed by the ancient acequia system, which brings fresh water from the snowmelt in the mountains – I still put it through a filter but it tasted lovely.’
The property had no mains connection, meaning Mathew had to install solar panels to get electricity, but this was able to keep everything running, including a washing machine, TV and any kind of charging device.
‘Theres a whole misconception about living off-grid,’ added Mathew, ‘You can live mostly like people who are connected to mains if you want, and there’s no bills!’
Mathew said most permanent residents in off-grid communities are expats from all over the world.
He added: ‘There’s a good mixture of people, from the hippie who wants to be away from the system to people like me, who enjoy living in nature and being independent.
‘I am able to grow my own peaches, hazelnuts, cabbages, tomatoes, carrots, anything you can think of.’
But Mathew has some key advice for anyone thinking of switching to an off-grid lifestyle, particularly in Andalucia.
He explained: ‘Andalucia is nor far off the size of England so there is a lot of variety, therefore the first thing to do is work out what is important to you.
‘I chose Lanjaron because it is closer to beaches and skiing, for example, so I would visit a few areas and talk to people who have made the move.
‘You need to be aware of the drawbacks and if the lifestyle genuinely suits you. What some people don’t realise is that it is not guaranteed to be cheaper, as there are always things that need doing.
‘If you have a lot of land for example, that will need constant maintenance, it needs a lot of looking after.’
Mathew’s plans to retire did not last long, as the award-winning estate agent – with more than 30 years of experience – kept being sought out for advice.
‘I decided to just start a company and set up Hola Properties,’ he explained, ‘I love what I do and I wanted to help people buy in a safe way as the industry here is very unregulated.’
Mathew very recently moved to a home slightly closer to Lanjaron town but it is still in the hills.
‘It’s technically not off-grid because it is connected to the mains, but that was not my reason for moving, I would very happily return to an off-grid property.’
Read more from the Spanish Eye’s Moving to Andalucia series.
