Viva Espagna!
I love rural Spain, and have done a lot of stone fireplace research out there. I would love to have been in Spain last night when they won their World Cup semi-final against Germany. I bet the mood and partying was fantastic. Heaven knows what it will be like on Sunday if they win the final!
It’s very dry here in Leicestershire at the moment. Our yard is very dusty and the stone fireplaces are drying out (after we’ve carved them) faster than I’ve ever known. That is quite a bonus really, as they’re noticeably lighter once dry, and that makes for easier handling and loading.
A friend of mine in Spain, with whom I often stay when hunting for architectural ideas, has just installed one of our stone fireplaces in his new house in the Sierra de Gredos. This is a beautifull area North West of Madrid. Quite mountainous and wooded and very beautiful. It’s a very unspoilt part of Spain, and even though it is still dotted with sleepy little farming villages, it is so much more accessible (due to EU road building schemes) than it was when I first visited about 15 years ago.
The Spanish have a great depth of history in the use of stone, and there are very many stunning and totally intact buildings that well illustrate their skills with the material.