The Fontainebleau
Paul S. Bradley
The Fontainebleau
Paul S. Bradley
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A nostalgic journey back to the 1970s when the love affair with Nerja, Spain, began.
Based on the true story of the Edwards family.
In 1972, smooth-talking London bookie Jimmy Edwards was horrified by the daunting prospect of a tax-grabbing Socialist Government. With a pioneering British spirit, he sold up and voted with his feet. Seduced by the balmy climate and low costs, he crammed the family into the Rolls Royce and headed for Spain, still under the iron fist of a Fascist regime. Blissfully ignorant of the politics, linguistically inept, and without relevant experience, they purchased a half-finished hostel from a dodgy developer in the quaint fishing village of Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol.
The bureaucracy was a nightmare, and rip-off builders were laboriously slow. But Jimmy was smart. He appointed a Spanish lawyer in Malaga who spoke English. What could go wrong?
Unsurprisingly, the project was delayed and then delayed. In 1974, well over a year behind schedule, the Fontainebleau opened and was immediately at loggerheads with oddball ex-pats, eccentric guests, demanding tour operators, and the dreaded Guardia Civil. With family harmony falling apart and bankruptcy looming, their only hope was luck and a gritty determination to succeed.
Un nostalgico y apasionante viaje, basado en un hecho real, que tiene lugar en los anos 70, cuando la familia Edwards sienten un "amor a primera vista" por el malagueno pueblo de Nerja.
En 1972, un encantador y apuesto corredor de apuestas londinense Jimmy Edwards, decide marcharse tras el desalentador panorama politico y los elevados impuestos del gobierno socialista de la epoca, para emprender una nueva vida en Espana. Con un espiritu intrepido y pionero, y seducido por el buen clima y el bajo nivel de vida de aquel entonces, llega a Malaga con su familia en el Rolls-Royce desde Reino Unido.
Desconocedor de la politica y bajo el regimen fascista, se enfrentaria con el desconocimiento lingueistico y a la ineptitud en cuanto a la inexperiencia en la hosteleria. Pero nada de ello impidio la compra de un pequeno hotel en fase de construccion a un promotor de dudosa reputacion en la localidad pesquera de Nerja en la Costa del Sol.
Los tramites burocraticos y los constantes contratiempos con los tramposos constructores, obligan a el ingenioso Jimmy a contratar un abogado de habla inglesa en la capital de Malaga. Que mas podria salir mal?
La inauguracion se pospuso una y mil veces mas, hasta que finalmente en 1974, ano y medio mas tarde de lo previsto, el Hostal Fontainebleau abrio sus puertas, y pronto se vio envuelto en una disputa entre expatriados y huespedes excentricos, turoperadores exigentes, y el temido cuerpo de la guardia civil. Con la armonia familiar desmoronandose y la quiebra al acecho, su unica esperanza y proposito era tener un poquito de fortuna o una determinacion perseverante para poder triunfar.
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