A British couple who retired to the Andalusian countryside are offering free board, meals and use of a swimming pool to anyone willing to spend three hours a day looking after their cats – and, on occasion, their grandchildren.
Spain Expat Press Editorial Team
Free accommodation, meals included, a pool and a bicycle, four miles from one of Spain’s most sought-after seaside towns. The catch? You become the official butler to 35 cats. It sounds like the plot of a Sunday-evening comedy drama, but the offer is genuine. It has been posted on the volunteering website Workaway by an English couple living near Conil de la Frontera, in the province of Cádiz, who are looking for human reinforcements.
For anyone who has ever dreamt of chucking it all in for a life in the sun, this may be the moment. Cat hair on every jumper is, admittedly, part of the uniform.
Sun, sea and whiskers
The house stands on a half-hectare plot around seven kilometres (just over four miles) from Conil de la Frontera, one of the best-loved resorts on Andalusia’s Atlantic coast. In plain terms: miles of golden beach, postcard sunsets and fresh bluefin tuna within cycling distance.
Cats in the morning, beach bar in the afternoon. There are worse ways to spend a winter.
Jackie, Richard and the feline army
The hosts, Jackie and Richard, are an English couple who appear to have concluded that a quiet retirement is overrated. They rescue abandoned cats from the surrounding area, and Jackie has even founded a charity dedicated to their welfare.
Around 35 cats live permanently on the property, alongside kittens and young cats awaiting adoption in purpose-built quarters. The couple also arrange for local strays to be neutered, to stop the army growing out of control. Heroes without capes, then – but with an awful lot of cat biscuits.
The job description (unofficial)
Now for the plot twist: it is not only about the cats. There are two grandchildren as well.
- Cats: helping with the daily care of the 35 furry residents. Feeding, cleaning and, one suspects, the occasional bit of diplomacy between rival factions.
- Grandchildren: minding the two youngsters on a few afternoons a week. The good news is that both are bilingual in English and Spanish, so a game of hide-and-seek doubles as a language lesson.
- Errands and kitchen duties: the odd errand, plus help with simple cooking and baking. Anyone who can turn out a decent Victoria sponge is already halfway there.
The pay: in kind, with a pool
There is no salary, but the benefits package is not to be sniffed at:
- A small house of your own in the garden (the bathroom is shared with one other person)
- Meals throughout your stay
- Wi-Fi, bed linen and towels
- Bicycles for exploring the area
- Use of the swimming pool
Consider this: plenty of people pay a thousand euros a month for a windowless bedsit. Here you get a garden, a pool and 35 housemates who will never once hog the remote.
The small print (cats do not read contracts)
On paper, it amounts to about three hours a day: mainly from 9am to 11am, plus roughly an hour on some afternoons. But anyone who has shared a home with a cat knows that rotas are, at best, advisory.
Previous volunteers note in their reviews that the morning shift can stretch towards lunchtime, and that there is an evening feed to see to as well. Nothing dramatic – but better to ask beforehand than to find out from a yowl at eight in the morning.
Other requirements:
- Applicants must be over 26
- A minimum stay of one month, although the couple prefer volunteers who can stay six weeks or longer
How to apply: via Workaway
The listing appears on Workaway, an international website that matches travellers with families and projects in need of a helping hand. The principle is simple: a few hours’ work a day in exchange for bed and board, with no money changing hands either way.
To apply:
- Register on Workaway.
- Take out a membership. There is an annual fee, and without it you cannot contact hosts.
- Find Jackie and Richard’s profile and send them a message.
- Before committing, check how the daily routine is organised at present.
A tip: a profile photo of you with your own pet is unlikely to do any harm.
Are you the right person? A quick test
You are the ideal candidate if …
- cat hair on your best black jumper does not send you into a spin,
- you would rather fill food bowls at 9am than answer emails at 9am,
- you can rustle up a cake between rounds of hide-and-seek,
- and the thought of afternoons on the beach at Conil appeals more than your current tenancy agreement.
If you nodded along to at least three of those, pack a suitcase, bring a lint roller and head for Cádiz. Thirty-five cats are waiting – and, frankly, they are not known for their patience.
