The rain in Spain..

[John in Andalucia]

It's been raining for over a week in our region, a hilly enclave of terraced gardens known as Las Zorreras (The Foxholes). This morning I woke to a deluge lasting for only about 10 minutes, but it was unusually heavy. I noticed something wrong when I stepped outside and could hear the clattering of our aluminium ladder, which always lays at the foot of our neighbours wall. The clattering turned out to be small lumps of concrete landing on it from above. Then I saw the cracks in the badly-built terrace wall that holds up his land, some 18 feet above our garden, and the way it was leaning, and how the steel garden shed was twisted, and everything up against the wall including trees were being pushed over.

Before & After..

The view entering our garden -

Further down the garden and the larger of 2 avocado trees is totally destroyed under tons of concrete -

General view back up the garden. The neighbours CIDP will have to come out. His land - what's left of it - is now stepped like an escalator, as the subsidence continues. His terrace is built like so many here. They put up a concrete wall with no foundations or drainage, back fill it with rubbish (toilets, rubble - anything and everything) lay topsoil then plant trees. No idea, whatsoever.

This section of wall nearest the house is ready to fall. We're hoping they get an excavator in before it does, and pull it inwards. The main concern is for our cats, who like to walk along the foot of this wall.

I was clearing the shed when the whole lot came down, and managed to clear out most stuff in time. The creaking metal was a good indicator of how imminent the collapse was.

So that's about it. Gone are about 8 trees; avocado, lemon, mandarin, fig, orange, pomegranate, and possibly the Washie. The good news is that I didn't lose any palm seedlings. I had 70 Bismarckia, 2 year-old seedlings in the firing line - next to the shed, and only decided to move them at the last minute. My polytunnel survived intact, and how's this for good fortune..

This last photo shows where the top of the wall landed - butt up against my CIDP seedlings, with a lump of concrete propping up a Date Palm!

All in all, no losses, but it's going to take a while to clear up the mess.

[Rafael]

It is always something we do not expect for ourselves!

In Italy it was horrible, a complete location felt down!

Near my place the problem has a name: sea excavation and robbing beache's sand, and aproaching to the urban zone...

[DoomsDave]

OUCH!

Looks too damn much like California . . . . .

I hope you can fix that up soon! At least no one got hurt!

[paulgila]

thats a bummer! glad no one was injured or worse...

[MattyB]

Ahhhhh, so sorry to see this happen John. I'm glad you weren't hurt. Maybe now you can plant some rosemary or some tough groundcover on that slope to prevent it from eroding in the future.

[Kim]

Unfortunate you had to lose the fruit trees, but glad you and the cats and palms are okay. Impressive destruction!

[Paul The Palm Doctor!]

I'm happy that Jesus spared as many living things as he could, John. I'll pray that you can renew things even better than before!

I'll light an extra candle tonight for your intentions.

Paul

[bubba]

John, Very sorry to see the damage. It is great that you missed out on what could have been a worse situation. Hope all is well otherwise and things get back to normal quickly.

[John in Andalucia]

I know the rain has flooded and washed away many homes in Europe; legitimate, unavoidable disasters - but really, this is about crappy building standards, and made me angry when the owner used the weather as an excuse, but then they do that a lot here. If rubbish blows in your garden they'll say with a look of disbelief, "It's the wind" - and not, "Sorry for allowing my rubbish to blow into your garden". As somebody once pointed out, the people around here are very 1-dimensional. Still, thanks everyone for the moral support. Not a great start to the New Year, and it's put a bit of a damper on announcing the new website that I've spent the last 2 months putting together, but I will soon. You will all love it, and it will hopefully enhance how and where we buy our palm seeds! Go on, pull my shirt until I tell ya!

[Walter John]

Good luck John with reparations.That washie looks like it took it well.

[BS Man about Palms]

Good luck John and as Wal said, I suspect the Washy won't skip a beat. Heck, there're used to landslides in this neck of the woods...

[amazondk]

John,

That is a bad scene. I hope it get´s fixed up ok. Is there a problem there with building in places where there should be no building? This is a real problem here and this year a lot of people have been killed because of it.

dk

[John in Andalucia]

John,

That is a bad scene. I hope it get´s fixed up ok. Is there a problem there with building in places where there should be no building? This is a real problem here in Brazil and this year a lot of people have been killed because of it.

dk

Hi Don,

Spain is notorious for illegal builds on a large scale, and it usually goes right up to the local mayor (who invariably ends up in prison). Small time illegal building usually gets found out a lot quicker. Having said that, someone has to report you first - known locally as a "denunciar" (denunciation).

Did you mean people kill each other other illegal building disputes Don, or that the constructions they put up are dangerous? Generally, the build quality here, by private contractors in rural regions is hit and miss. Our region is classified as "rustico", the properties starting out many years ago as just small outbuildings - eventually getting turned into one-storey homes, with pools added etc. The problem with our neigbour's terrace, is that it was shored-up over 30 years ago by someone with no cash, and to this day, there is still no property on the land, just a shack, and a pool for the kids in summer.

To update the saga, the Caterpillar arrived this morning, and made safe the last section, saving further misery. That CIDP came out, as expected, along with the owners entrance gates. The next step will be interesting, as I doubt they have property insurance. My parents have full legal cover if it comes to it, but to be honest, they'd be better off selling the place cheap to someone who has the cash to rebuild the terrace. It's a big job, and in 6 years the owners have not had a cent to spend on the place, so they'll soon start to realize their only options.

Here you can see the extent of the footing, still attached to the wall. A poured-concrete base measuring 2 feet x 5 inches thick. Where I've marked with a green arrow, you can see what are supposed to be drain outlets. On closer inspection, the pipe doesn't actually penetrate through the concrete at the back. There were dozens of these drainage pipes in the wall, and I never once saw rainwater run out of them, and now I know why!

[migacebo]

John,

Here you can see the extent of the footing, still attached to the wall. A poured-concrete base measuring 2 feet x 5 inches thick. Where I've marked with a green arrow, you can see what are supposed to be drain outlets. On closer inspection, the pipe doesn't actually penetrate through the concrete at the back. There were dozens of these drainage pipes in the wall, and I never once saw rainwater run out of them, and now I know why!

John, te explico: esos no son tubos de drenaje. Son tubos para sujetar el encofrado. Ese es un muro de gravedad, con sección de base claramente insuficiente y sin drenaje longitudinal, ni transversal, una bomba de relojería.

Me alegro de que estés bien, arriesgaste mucho. La próxima vez deja quieto lo que esté debajo del muro, no merece la pena. La vida es mas importante.

[John in Andalucia]

John,

Here you can see the extent of the footing, still attached to the wall. A poured-concrete base measuring 2 feet x 5 inches thick. Where I've marked with a green arrow, you can see what are supposed to be drain outlets. On closer inspection, the pipe doesn't actually penetrate through the concrete at the back. There were dozens of these drainage pipes in the wall, and I never once saw rainwater run out of them, and now I know why!

John, te explico: esos no son tubos de drenaje. Son tubos para sujetar el encofrado. Ese es un muro de gravedad, con sección de base claramente insuficiente y sin drenaje longitudinal, ni transversal, una bomba de relojería.

Me alegro de que estés bien, arriesgaste mucho. La próxima vez deja quieto lo que esté debajo del muro, no merece la pena. La vida es mas importante.

Gracias por explicar, Miguel. Entonces, no había tuberías de drenaje? Increíble.

(Miguel has just pointed out that those tiny tubes were not for drainage, but part of framwork for pouring the concrete. So they didn´t even bother installing drainage.)

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Ouch bro... Didn't see this thread till now. Sorry to see the damage. Glad to hear it wasn't worse. Hows the cleanup going?

[amazondk]

John,

That is a bad scene. I hope it get´s fixed up ok. Is there a problem there with building in places where there should be no building? This is a real problem here in Brazil and this year a lot of people have been killed because of it.

dk

Hi Don,

Spain is notorious for illegal builds on a large scale, and it usually goes right up to the local mayor (who invariably ends up in prison). Small time illegal building usually gets found out a lot quicker. Having said that, someone has to report you first - known locally as a "denunciar" (denunciation).

Did you mean people kill each other other illegal building disputes Don, or that the constructions they put up are dangerous? Generally, the build quality here, by private contractors in rural regions is hit and miss. Our region is classified as "rustico", the properties starting out many years ago as just small outbuildings - eventually getting turned into one-storey homes, with pools added etc. The problem with our neigbour's terrace, is that it was shored-up over 30 years ago by someone with no cash, and to this day, there is still no property on the land, just a shack, and a pool for the kids in summer.

John,

This problem seems to be endemic to Latin culture. Not that it does not happen elswhere. It does even appear in the USA. Here in Brazil it is a real problem. The cities have grown so much with so much real control of land use and building codes that there are huge problems. This year the rains in southern Brazil have produced a lot of landslides taking a lot of life and destroying a lot of property. A lot of this destruction could have been avoided if things had been done differently. In many places the poor have occupied open areas in cities with great risk from floods and landslides. In others buildings and houses have been built in places where the risk is obvious. And, frequently building codes are either not enforced. Or the inspectors are paid to look the other way. It is not an easy problem to solve.

dk

[Kris]

Sorry John,

Actually i hurriedly visit this thread expecting some nice visuals & thought it had something to do with the rhyme in the movie 'my fair lady'...Rex harrison keeps on telling that "rain in spain pours mainly in the plains".

But after openning your thread i was into rude shock of visuals of rain damage.But i would tell onething is that 'water world' is emminent.And funniest part in all the climate summits is that leaders keep their faces as they are the god's who decide all our fate,not knowing that they too have kids & grandchildren who have to live here with us !

And we have so much natural resources & wealth in this earth,but they are concerned about water in the Moon & in Mars..

I lived happily & i will kick my bucket attitude must change someday.. Sooner the better.

Kris.

[John in Andalucia]

Raining again! Bill, I am making small progress, ignoring the mountain of rubble and tidying what is ours. Some irony, that the night before I was telling my mother that what I needed for my outdoor shade house this summer was, "a whole load of those cinder blocks". I've cleaned up about 40 blocks so far. It's not like they are expensive, but these just happened to land right where I needed them!

Kris - sorry, no Audrey Hepburn visuals here! You are absolutely right, and the mess in our garden is also a reminder of how some people only live for the moment. Thankfully, that's not a philosophy that most palm growers could adopt as a mantra.

[John in Andalucia]

The rebuild has started, much to our pleasant surprise! The neighbour confesses he's broke, but has enough contacts to get the job done. Spanish people have a lot of pride.

I took some snaps just a couple of hours ago, now that they've finished work for the day.

There's a digger in our garden!

Doing it properly this time around. Concrete terrace walls are so 70's! When these rocks roll out of the back of a tipper truck it sounds like thunder, and the "big-uns" have yet to arrive!

Hitting bedrock. The hills around here are predominantly made up of a shale-like material, which as the digger owner said, "walks" - so small landslips are common after a downpour.

Proping up the Washie in case it turns windy. He was good enough to drop some boulders around the base, so that the soil didn't back up as he drove back and forth..

The view looking down the earth ramp into our garden.

Watching them pull the rocks into position will be entertining. A lot of skill is required using a digger bucket, but this is what they do best around here. It'll be like living under a natural rock face when it's finished. Can't wait!

[Dave-Vero]

Me gustan las piedras grandes.

Now back to English. A few months ago Cusco, Peru had heavy rains, the same storm that cut off Machu Picchu. At a magnificent Inca site near Cusco, an original retaining wall of perfectly fitted stone with no mortar, partly collapsed. Park managers probably have reassembled it already. Peru's pre-Spanish terraces for farming are apparently mostly no longer being maintained.

Using big stones as retainers works pretty well in Portland, Oregon. Most people build walls of broken pieces of sidewalks (the city is fanatical about sidewalk maintenance, so material is cheap and abundant), but Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden has been building magnificent stone slopes using enormous boulders. Not to mention that when the "Heavenly falls" at Portland's Japanese Garden partly collapsed, a spider-like Komatsu backhoe was soon at work installing even larger rocks for a bigger, better waterfall. A few months later, you'd think the waterfall had been there forever.

[John in Andalucia]

I snapped the first stones going into place this morning. That's about 3 hours work,right there. Lots of nudging, rotating and flipping to get the rocks to sit solidly.

[MattyB]

Wow! Looks like you'll have lot's of crevases to plant interesting plants into. Make a cycad wall!!!!! Ravenea glauca!!!! Oh, the possibilities! Cool!

[John in Andalucia]

Day two.. Yabadabadoo!!

We nearly lost our power cable this lunchtime. The digger was helping to pull a truck full of rocks onto the property with the bucket (the lorry was wheel-spinning on the inclined tarmac lane.) I said, "Didn't you see the pole go "twang", like a 40ft-long concrete javelin striking the ground at 100mph?" and of course, they just look at you.

[Kostas]

I just saw your thread John,wow,you had some massive destruction on your property I am very sorry to see that...

Its coming along nicely again though and i hope you can make things even better than before soon