Hi there,
In several posts I have already been telling you how this whole experience has been since we bought the house in Ourense. You already know that it is a beautiful place, in a tiny village where almost everything looks like a fairy tale, and that we have two wonderful neighbours: Ricardo and Julieta.
But of course, everything could not be perfect.
Since we arrived, several people had been warning us about a neighbor who was complicated. That she was strange, that we should be careful, that she didn’t like animals, that it was better not to cross her. We didn’t know her because, according to what we were told, she lives in Madrid and only goes to her house in the village a few weeks a year. So, during the first three weekends, we did not hear from her.
But our fourth weekend in the new house was the time to meet this woman, unfortunately.
We were outside, cleaning the front of the house to see if we could paint it, and suddenly she approached us. She stood in front of us with an attitude somewhere between authoritarian and threatening, as if she was coming to put us in our place. She asked us where we were from (the only thing Diego managed to answer) and from then on, she began a monologue that did not stop.
You cannot paint the stone, that the rock joint cannot be touched, that grey color is not approved by the City Council, that there are specific colors, that the dog cannot be loose, that we better picked up the dog poop …. And so on. All said with a tone that left no room for dialogue. Diego and I were so stunned by such a display of bad manners that we didn’t even respond.
She was right about several things. The village is a heritage zone, and one has to ask for permits even to breathe. You must maintain an aesthetic, rules, criteria. But there are forms and education to say things, especially when no one has asked for your opinion.
If I haven’t asked you for that information, you don’t have to come and give it to me in that way. And less insinuate that I do not pick up the dog excrement when you have not seen my dog doing his needs. It’s one thing to defend heritage, it’s another to mount an absurd interrogation based on prejudice.
That was our first interaction with her. Later, talking with Ricardo and Julieta, we understood that it was not something isolated. It wasn’t just us. They had lived through years of harassment and intimidation by this lady, despite having grown up together. Julieta told us that she, as a child, was in great need, that her family was very poor, that she was hungry. But at some point, they got money, renovated the house (a very big and spectacular house, probably the best in the village), and since then she changed. She went from being a victim to exercising power in the worst possible way.
After that day, it became clear that we must be very careful with this lady. That whatever we do in the house we have to do it with permission, of course, but also knowing that there is someone who spies, who watches, who is waiting for the slightest mistake to denounce us.
So, I’ve already decided: if she comes near me again, I’m going to start recording every conversation. Because harassment, intimidation and coercion are punishable by law. But to report it, you need proof.
As always, in the beautiful stories there is a shadow. There is always someone who comes to tarnish the joy. And there are neighbors like that, we already know. People who, instead of seeking psychological help, are dedicated to trying to ruin the happiness of others.