Rodri studied Nursing at the University of Jaén. After working and living in several cities in Spain and abroad, he started working as a nurse in the ICU in Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca (Murcia).
His father, a sheep shepherd, told Rodri that he was going to retire and sell his livestock. He then decided to take a leave of absence from work to fulfil his dream: returning to his village, being a shepherd and running a rural accommodation, all at once. He had seen many times in his village how the fruit of a lifetime’s work and effort in selecting the sheep and looking after the flock was forgotten for lack of generational replacement, and he didn’t want that to happen at home.
And so it all began. First, he took the agricultural training courses for young farmers (eight training modules, lasting two and a half months, including some complementary courses, for people under 40 years of age who are entering farming). As a result, he was eligible for a grant of €55 000 (non-refundable) and CAP entitlements. The procedures were carried out through COAG-Jaén, of which he is a member. In June 2019 he took charge of the flock: he owns about 480 sheep of segureña sheep (an autochthonous breed with a Protected Geographical Indication) and his father, about 210. They also own 10-12 goats, which act as wet nurses. The bulk of the flock grazes freely on communal land (between the valley of Santiago and Campos de Hernán Pelea), while the lambing ewes and lambs are kept on the farm. They lamb three times a year: in January, April and September.
In order to start the tourist activity, in May 2018 he began the refurbishment of a family-owned farmhouse (owned by his great-uncles), located in El Cerezo village, a few metres from where his parents live, to set up tourist flats. The house has been restored following the architectural typology of the area (cement floors, original stone walls, “revoltones” roof, etc.), providing it with services and facilities for the clients (underfloor heating and cooling, air conditioning, wifi, kitchen with complete kitchenware, private bathroom, etc.). Each flat has been given a name that evokes the rural past of the house: “La Tiná”, “La Cámara”, “El Granero”, “El Pajar” and “El Aprisco”. “La Tiná” is adapted for people with reduced mobility. It is the only rural accommodation with a swimming pool in the surrounding area, and some common areas for all guests (dining room, barbecue, garden, etc.) are also available.
The remodelling cost around €260 000 (€60 000 over the initial budget), as the house was completely refurbished. To finance it, Rodri has relied on his savings, a bank loan and partial financing from EU funds managed by the GDR Sierra de Segura (a local action group), as well as the help of family members to cover the over-budget cost.
Applying for the grant has been a very complicated and tedious process, which has required the most effort. The project to be funded amounted to €221 000, 50 % of which was initially to be granted. The amount of the grant was reduced to €56 000 due to problems with justifying the work’s progress. In addtion, the process was a bit complicated and an appeal was needed in order to finally access the funds.
Furthermore, Rodri considers this type of aid is impracticall; you cannot apply for the subsidy unless you own the full budget (as the economic plan would not be viable)Thus,it is not useful for the majority of entrepreneurs; the bureaucratic procedures are very arduous (he applied in January 2018 and the provisional decision took a year, and when he had to appeal against the granting of the aid, everything was delayed even more). He argues that political interests in the local action groups exist, etc.
He also applied for a discount on the building permit to renovate the house (around €6 500), but the town council plenary voted against it, even though Rodri maintains that the activity meets all the legal requirements to have been funded.
The flats opened to the public in October 2019. Barely six months later, the Spanish Government decreed the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and tourist activity was interrupted until the summer of 2020, when the flats were able to reopen.
Before starting this business, Rodri had neither academic training or experience in the tourism sector nor in the hotel industry, “but he had all his personal background”. It has been a completely self-taught process, with only help from the Internet and attendance to some conferences or tourism fairs; a full-fledged business adventure.
He has not used the resources provided by the public authorities to help entrepreneurs (such as the Andalusian Entrepreneurship Centres), either. Rodri has taken care of all the administrative formalities himself.
During all this time, Rodri managed to run his three jobs: shepherd, tourist entrepreneur and nurse. He needed the help of his family to be able to do it all. But it has not been easy: his father has been against his son’s initiative from the very beginning; he refused to accept that his son should become a shepherd (“he wanted me to have a better life”), nor that he should invest so much money in the tourist business, but he still helps Rodri with the livestock.
But it was very clear to Rodri: “I came here to make my dreams come true”. Finally, in November 2020, he left his job at the hospital to devote himself entirely to sheep and tourists.
