It seemed such a great idea: a holiday park on a vacant lot in the Spanish province of Alicante. Birgitta (47) and Ton (49) Wesseloo had the idea to realize no fewer than 86 holiday homes and 58 camper pitches in 10 months. Three years later, the family that was featured tonight in I leave, still no license and construction has not even started. “The sight is a bit sad.”
–
At the start of their adventure, mother Birgitta still has a high position at a company that makes forklift tricks. Father Ton is the perfect houseman. He does the housework and is busy with their children Thomas (7) and Ruben (4). But Birgitta begins to miss family life due to her busy work life and so the course is completely changed.
The family buys a 27,000 square meter vacant lot in Busot, Spain, in the province of Alicante. A real holiday park with 86 holiday homes and 58 motorhome pitches must be realized at that location within ten months. Ton and Birgitta start off energetically, but soon encounter the first problems: the licenses.
“That sometimes takes longer in the province,” says Ton. An incidental problem: often additional studies are required for those licenses. These sometimes cost up to 5000 euros, without anything in return. In the end, the ground work is started anyway.
–
Quote We had business cards that said ‘opening 2017’. We could still adjust that by turning a seven into an eight, but to turn it into a nine again
–
Despondent
But soon the digger has to slow down. “We don’t want to spend more money if we don’t have a license for a long time,” says Birgitta. Ton adds: ,, It is still not in, it is already the third application. After two months we still have no response whether it is good. That makes you a bit despondent. ” For the time being the family can still live on reserves, but in the end Ton decides to dig himself to save costs.
Then a leap in time is made. A year later, Birgitta can no longer be found in Spain, but in Rheden in Gelderland. She has taken on a temporary interim job. During the week she works in the Netherlands and at the weekend she is in Spain. “It takes longer than we thought. We had business cards that said ‘opening 2017’. We could still adjust that by turning a seven into an eight, but to turn it into a nine again. The fact that I am in the Netherlands and my children and husband in Spain was of course not our choice. ”
After 2.5 years, the Wesseloo family still cannot start with their holiday park, because the licenses have still not been received. They no longer dare to invest in anything and the plans for the holiday park are completely hopeless. So they decide to devote themselves to a new project. Tom and Birgitta have made a home exchange. Their house has been taken over and they are getting a building in return with 12,000 square meters of land. During the renovation of the building, they can still stay in their old house. The piece of land also remains theirs.
–
Quote The legislation here is so complex, there is always something to be invented, which means that plans have to be changed
–
Complex
Hope is finally on the horizon. According to the municipality, camper spots can be created on the new piece. But eight months later it can be seen that there is another setback. Birgitta is looking for a job again. “At some point you have to have some income.”
Plans for the camper pitches have come to a standstill. The municipality nevertheless indicates that the area is protected because of the trees. Ton: ,, You have to stay 20 meters from there and then it will be a fairly narrow place. The legislation here is so complex: there is always something to be invented, which means that the plans have to be changed. ” After three years in Spain they are still not officially residents. “Then we can always go back”, Ton explains. “Let’s first make sure that everything will be fine here, then we will become a resident.”
The place where they wanted to start their holiday park is now full of weeds. Ton: ,, This place remains great to come. When you arrive, I’m still really looking forward to starting, but it’s a bit of a sad sight now. ” Brigitta: ,, We have been working on licenses for three or four years now, we had thought that there would now be houses. The fact that there is nothing now does not mean that the dream is gone. It still feels very good to me. ” Ton: ,, I certainly still have hope that this will one day turn out well. ”
It is not clear how that will end. Ton and Birgitta are in any case happy that they have embarked on the adventure, despite the years of setbacks. “I have no regrets for a second,” says Birgitta.
–
Check out our trending show videos below:
–
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on the stars.
–
–
:strip_icc():format(jpeg)/kly-media-production/medias/3396094/original/078633500_1615193969-Juventus_vs_Porto.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Champions League Live Streaming Link Tonight: Juventus Vs FC Porto")