The tomatoes are grown on his own property.ULY MARTÍNStewart shears a sheep belonging to his neighbor Bernardo (left).ULY MARTÍNÓrgiva, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, is the capital of the Alpujarras. Around a quarter of the 5,900 inhabitants are foreign, half of them British.ULY MARTÍNChris talks to Bernardo, whose adventures in the Guadalfeo valley are among Stewart’s main sources of inspiration.ULY MARTÍNChris feeding his sheep. He keeps the lambs with their mothers away from the pregnant animals. He used to sell lamb, but now keeps sheep for personal consumption only.ULY MARTÍNAna and Chris like to spend as much time as possible in their garden, enjoying the cool of the summer evenings with a glass of wine.ULY MARTÍNChris Stewart holds up a photograph of El Valero taken in 1988 when he bought it for the equivalent of €30,000. “I was spellbound that day.”ULY MARTÍNChris in the kitchen he built at El Valero. For many years he lacked enough electricity to power a fridge or freezer. He says he loves cooking.ULY MARTÍNChris’s characteristic glasses make him easy to identify.ULY MARTÍNChris and his wife Ana have converted a former lean-to into a library. They avoid leaving El Valero, and the room’s shelves are filled with books relating to journeys they made before coming here.ULY MARTÍNChris spent £125 on this edition of ‘Old Spain’ by Gertrude and Muirhead Bone in 1974. He says it cost him several weeks’ pay.ULY MARTÍNChris Stewart crosses the makeshift bridge he built that separates his valley from civilization. This is the eighth attempt in 27 years, and took him two days to construct. “The river can turn into a raging torrent very quickly,” he says.ULY MARTÍNChris with a photograph of the first Genesis lineup: he’s on the far right. He only played on one track, ‘The Silent Sun,’ which appeared on the band’s debut album. Since then, he says he’s never listened to their music.ULY MARTÍNChris and Ana descend their “Spanish Steps,” designed by a friend from New Zealand. It leads to what they call the Path of Contemplation and to a botanical garden they have created.ULY MARTÍNChris and Ana, seen reflected in the mirror of their library.ULY MARTÍNChris Stewart in the library, where he says he spends most of his free time over the winter.ULY MARTÍN
