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About Us

Who are we?

John and Linda Powell. Originally from Haslemere, a middle sized town close to where the Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire borders all meet. Roughly halfway between London and Portsmouth.

One night in the local pub in the winter of 1988 a guy told me that a huge Canadian motor home was parked just round the corner. I walked up to take a look and was instantly smitten. For the next nine months we worked and saved as hard as we could, so that we were able to take a six month break, in a motor home, driving through France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal in the winter months of 1989, with our two daughters. Maddy, (8 years old) and Lisa, (4 years old). About four months out of the six was spent touring Spain’s eastern and southern coastline.

Now England may be a green and pleasant land, but we had just experienced months of warm sunny days and we wanted more of it. We had also found the Spanish people much to our liking. So, to cut a long story short, we sold up in 1991 and moved to Spain. We had just enough money to buy a derelict town house, put a new roof on it and buy an old van. We moved in and roughed it while we renovated it. I estimated the work as a five year project. It took ten, as we did the work when time and money allowed. If you wanted to borrow money in Spain at that time the interest rate was 18%.

The first two years we took any work we could get in the winter months, and during the summer months we made and sold leatherwork on the night markets on the seafront. We also did Easter markets, craft fairs and a huge Christmas market in Valencia. With the exception of Frank, a German guy making Tiffany glass, who helped us with the piles of paperwork, we were the only foreigners doing fairs and markets at that time.

In 1993 we were told of a shop for rent in the church square, in the old town, very close to where we live. Four hours later we had done the deal, it was perfect as it was large enough to be a workshop and shop combined.

Two years after opening the shop we were able to give up all other work as it was earning enough for us to live on.

A man with dark hair and beard standing next to a woman with short dark hair. The man is wearing a white tee shirt and jeans, the woman is wearing a black and white top with black leggings. They are standing in front of a shop with a large sign above saying decuero.

Well, that was us then.

A relatively young couple with two small girls, trying to learn the language and trying to get a business off the ground in a foreign land. A worrying time, as there are no financial handouts in Spain, but an exciting time for all of us.

And now.

On the left is a woman with short dark hair wearing a grey fisherman style jumper. On the right is a man with short grey hair and a grey beard also wearing a grey jumper.The man has his arm around the womans shoulders, they are both smiling and in the background is a shop full of hand made leather goods.

Well, a bit older, a bit fatter round the middle and a fair bit of grey in the hair. Maddy is 30, married to a Spanish lad called Edu and they have made us grandparents. The beautiful Laura is two years old at the time of writing this. Our younger daughter Lisa is now 26 and is a hairdresser. She lives with her boyfriend (also called Edu) in Granada, southern Spain. A lot has changed in 18 years, but we’re still enthusiastic and still enjoy living amongst the Spanish people. They really are friendly if you take the time to learn their language. The shop has gone from strength to strength over the years, so now it’s time for the next step...selling on the internet.

Where are we?

On the east coast of Spain, about halfway down, between the cities of Valencia and Alicante, the land curves out to a point and back again. Right on the tip of that point is the old fishing town of Javea (Xabia in the local language). Javea port still has a good size fishing fleet that goes out daily, with it’s own fish market, so local restaurants do have wonderful seafood menus that change all year round. It also has good shops and bars, a beautiful seafront walkway,a small marina for private boats, an incredible fisherman’s church and a stony beach.

About half a mile further along the coastline, you’ll find a large bay with a fine, white, sandy beach. Complete with palm trees, shops, bars, restaurants and nightclubs, this is Javea’s main tourist attraction in the summer months, and is where you will find Javea’s nightlife. This area is called the Arenal.

About half a mile inland from the port you’ll find Javea old town. There aren’t so many restaurants here, but there are tapas bars dotted around everywhere. We personally find tapas bars the most enjoyable way of spending an evening, so feel lucky to live and work in the old town itself. The town has it’s own church, covered market, museum, bars and restaurants and of course it’s own handmade leather workshop and shop. We are directly in front of the church, in the church square itself ( see photo on home page).

Within a 50 yard radius of our shop there are about a dozen bars and restaurants. So, if your’e in Javea, come and see us in the mornings and have a coffee or beer nearby, or come up in the evenings and look in before you go on to eat. By the way we live about 300 yards from the shop, the commute in every morning is awful.