THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF ALPACAS IN SPAIN

Our beatiful Martin at the Competition.....He came second in his class to Godswell Monty owned by Nigel and Ginny Cobb!

My attempt to bribe the judges failed miserably!!

Martin and Zac relax at the Real Feria de Mayo in Ronda!

What was going to be a really exciting and interesting weekend, turned out to be a very difficult and exhausting one and ended up in a near catastrophe!

For the past few months we had been assisting Nigel & Ginny Cobb in organising the first ever Alpaca show and competition to be held in Spain! We had been given a marquee of our own ‘Pabellon de las Alpacas’ at the Real Feria de Mayo held in Ronda. This event began in 1510 making it the oldest in Andalucia.

Nigel & Ginny had arranged for two internationally known and recognised judges, Tim Hey from England and Dr Monyka Portocarrero from the Peru to judge the competition, so it was to be a very serious occasion.

Earlier this year, Lin and I had met the owners of Concepts of Peru, during their visit to Spain. They specialise in the importation of garments made from the Alpaca fibre in Peru, which they distribute within the United Kingdom. We had asked them if they would like to have a stand at the Real Feria de Mayo, but sadly they had to decline as it clashed with the Bath & West Show in the UK. However, they very kindly allowed us to purchase a number of items on a sale or return basis, which were brought over by one of our new friends here, who commutes to the UK on a regular basis. Over the three days we managed to sell a number of items (mostly socks) totalling €250. Not bad for our first attempt!

We had also organised a raffle to raise funds for a local charity called Asprodisis, who care for people (mostly children) with learning disabilities. Sadly, we didn’t collect as much money as we had hoped, but we did manage to raise €500 for this good cause! Two of the carers and around a dozen of the patients from Asprodisis visited our stand at the end of the show to make the draw. They were all really lovely and so enthusiastic that it made all our efforts worthwhile.

Sadly, Lin had an acute attack of Menière's disease on the first day of the show, so she spent most of the weekend in bed. She did manage to make it to the competition on the Saturday night, but had a relapse on the Sunday. Barrie (Lin’s brother) and his wife Jeanne came up from the coast to look after Lin, which allowed me to attend the show, but it wasn’t much fun for me without her. It was such a shame as we had been so looking forward to this weekend for such a long time.

Alpaca ‘Godswell Ella’ owned by Nigel and Ginny Cobb was judged to be Supreme Champion, which was only fitting as she was the first alpaca to be born in Andalucia. ‘Godswell Lulu’ owned by Di and David Worthy and the daughter of our Lilly was judged to be Reserve Champion.

Our dear 'Godswell Martin' came second in his class to 'Godswell Monty' owned by Nigel & Ginny, but he behaved beautifully throughout the show and competition. We were so proud of him!

All the rosettes and sashes were presented by Don Juan Luis Munoz Roldan (Director of OCA) who has been so supportive towards us and is keen to promote the Alpaca industry within Andalucia

Prior to the show we formed the Spanish Alpaca Society (Sociedad Espanola de Alpacas) which we thought would be important for the growth of the Alpaca industry in Spain. Its prime aim is to help new and established Alpaca owners here in Spain and to act as a conduit for discussions with Spanish authorities. If you would like to see all of the results of the show, please visit our website at www.seda.org.es