“El jefe” with body and soul

Day 11: Our last day at the Marvarrosa de Corinto campsite. Last night we had dinner with Gaby and Ecki in the associated restaurant. We were the first guests, but over the course of the evening the restaurant was filled to capacity. We sat right by the fireplace, and because the landlady had difficulty getting the fire going, I took over this task. I would say I really warmed up the many guests...

No matter how many people came, the table on the other side of the fireplace remained empty. It was covered, but as if it were an unwritten rule, no one sat in that place. We were already eating when an older couple, both around 80 years old and well dressed, came into the restaurant and were escorted to the table by the waitress. It had become quieter in the restaurant, the guests watched the proceedings as if it were a ceremony. “El jefe,” a whisper went through the ranks – the boss.

A short time later he came to our table to ask if everything was OK. He spoke perfect German. So we started talking and he told us his story. Half a century ago he came to Spain by chance. He was sitting with his friends in a bar in Cologne and they were thinking about where they wanted to go on vacation. It had to go where no one else goes - the choice fell on Spain. It was probably fate, because Wolfgang Kopp lost his heart here, “first to the country, then to my wife,” he says.

After his first vacation, the qualified businessman had absorbed everything that had to do with Spain, learned the language, gathered everything he knew about the country and planned his next visits. It goes without saying that he soon found contact with locals. He met a family and they soon chose him as a suitable husband for their older daughter. But he fell in love with the younger daughter, Pepa, who was only 16 years old at the time. Love won and the two were allowed to get married.

At some point Wolfgang decided to buy a property. It was supposed to be 1000 square meters – it became 100,000. “On this piece of land there were palm trees with their tips touching. That reminded me of the Gothic arches in Cologne Cathedral.” There were 30 palm trees here – today there are 400. Over the years, Wolfgang Kopp has lived here with his wife Pepa, his daughter Concha and his granddaughter Paula, who now has the The campsite has created a little paradise. However, “El jefe” doesn’t want to retire yet. “I couldn’t go a day without work,” he says. And if he just comes to the restaurant with his wife in the evening and checks that everything is going...