The Cala Jóncols Hotel was built by a group of Italians in 1955. Our grandparents, Pepe and Rosario, arrived here from Andalusia in 1969 to work in the cove. A year later, our father Juanma was born. Our great-grandmother Carmen helped to look after our grandfather while his parents took care of the business. In 1975, the partners separated and the hotel was closed. A year later, our grandparents decided to reopen the establishment on their own. Our family has been in charge of Cala Jóncols ever since.
Grandmother Rosario and great-grandmother Carmen took charge of the cooking. My grandmother’s paella is still the most delicious one we have ever tasted. She always tells us stories of when they had to keep rabbits, chickens and pigs, as well as taking care of the vegetable patch and gathering olives to make oil. The cove was not easy to get to, so they did everything here themselves. Our grandfather has plenty of tales of his fishing trips. Even today, we still slaughter pigs to produce our own sausages, harvest olives, tend to the vegetable patch and go fishing on our boat, «Olga». In 1981, my Uncle Michael was born. Our grandfather says that Michael took his first steps just as they opened the beach bar, the following year.
