The port in Mahón, Menorca at twilight

Colin Guanaria, 65, was born in Leeds, northern England. After working as a quantity surveyor he joined the family ice-cream business in 1981 and took regular holidays with his wife, Margaret, on the Spanish island of Menorca, moving to the Balearics permanently when the company was sold . He set up an English-style property company, Bonnin Sanso, 20 years ago.

We decided on Menorca because since 1973 we had been here on holiday every year. I saw an opportunity: a little niche in the market for an estate agent that could combine the best customer practice from English estate agents with the best customer practice of Spanish estate agents.

I didn’t speak one word of Spanish. Well, “buenos días”, “buenas tardes”, “buenas noches”, “un café con leche” – that was all I knew when I came here. I had to learn very quickly. It did not come naturally, it’s been very difficult indeed. Not being a good linguist, I’ve had to work very hard at it. Now, more or less, our daily language is Spanish.

We bought a house on the island – a classic Menorquin house with garden [and] swimming pool but three years ago we moved into an apartment on the harbour. It’s a very modern, almost minimalist, property – a special architectural design. This, for Menorca, is a little bit – actually, a lot – different.

My favourite part of the island is the harbour of Mahón – it’s Europe’s largest natural harbour. It’s got such a history to it, going back to Carthaginian times. The Greeks, the Romans and the French have conquered it, the British have conquered it, the Spanish have conquered it. Barbarossa, the pirate, conquered it, the Turks have conquered it. It’s got this wonderful history to it. We live on the harbour and look out across it. Every morning I wake up and look out and I just say to myself how privileged we are to have lived here for 20 years.

The vast majority of our friends are all local Menorquin Spanish people – absolutely delightful and charming. Margaret and I both feel totally integrated into Spanish society. There’s a thing called Pascua Militar on January 6 every year at the military headquarters and I think for the past six years my wife and I have been the only English people there. I’m a member of the local Rotary Club, we are friends of the opera here, I’m involved in the local Red Cross association and we’re patrons of the local handicapped sports association. Obviously, good friendship is never instant but because we had a business and because we were seen by the local community to be very professional and absolutely legal, we were fairly quickly accepted. Through business relationships you develop more personal relationships and, over the years, many have become close friends.

One advantage is the quality of life that we enjoy. Bearing in mind we have only 90,000 inhabitants on the island, it’s almost like living in a village. Everyone knows everyone. So it’s the people, it’s the quality of life, the security that we enjoy. We have very, very little crime. The peace, the tranquillity, the pace of life: it’s a big change from my business life in the UK.

And siestas still exist. One of the greatest things that the Spanish have given to the world is the siesta and I fully participate in the custom. It’s absolutely wonderful. All of these little things add to our quality of life.

We have a classic Menorquin boat. Ten people can dine on the deck. In spring, summer and autumn we spend a lot of time on the water with friends. As soon as we’ve dropped anchor and had our swim I always prepare a jug of sangria con cava. My recipe is orange juice, lots of ice, peach schnapps and a bottle of cava. Into that you put raspberries – the raspberry juice gives the drink a nice pinkish colour. All of my friends know my recipe. The only trouble is that it’s very moreish ... and one jug can lead to another.

There’s something happening every night of the week somewhere on the island: a concert, an art exhibition. There are plenty of things to do. The Menorquins are a little like the Welsh – they love singing. They don’t need any excuse to break into song.

The first opera house to be built in Spain was built here in Menorca. So there is a great cultural life on the island but, obviously, if we want to see some of the major events, like the Bolshoi Ballet, or visit a large department store, we have to go to Barcelona. If there is a downside, it’s the fact that you have to get on an aircraft to go somewhere.

That said, most things can be purchased here in Menorca, including Marmite and, coming from Yorkshire, we can even buy Yorkshire teabags. We don’t miss any of those small things but when we return to the UK it’s nice to have a bacon sandwich. Because of the Mediterranean cooking and diet, you don’t necessarily have roast beef and Yorkshire puddings but if we go back to England, to my mother’s, she will cook us a roast and we love it. You don’t see the family as often as you might if you lived in the UK but when you do see them that time is a little bit more valuable than if you were seeing them every weekend. We won’t be leaving Menorca, though, that’s for sure. We’re very happy here.