With his parents dead, Avelino received his family’s inheritance and knew he would have to give in to the claims of his wife Erundina. It was time to have my own house. As a civil servant he had a stable job, they were married for over a decade and had two daughters. After traveling to different destinations in Spain, they ended up in Vigo, where they lived in a rented apartment near the train station. Don Juan, a wealthy bachelor, owner of almost all the land in the neighborhood where his house was located, insisted that he take advantage of the windfall of land he had for sale and on which he could build a building . The neighborhood was promising, it was land close to the Capuchin church property and, with certainty, the city would eventually open a major street in the square.
The 1940s were those of hunger, the post-war period and scarcity. The family of four survived because they were sent from the village where they received potatoes, fruits and slaughterhouse products with which they comfortably spent the entire winter. But finding building materials was another story. Wood was easy to get because they cut down the trees in the area, but there were no nails or cement, much less cable, iron or bricks. Unless you give in to black market usury or have influence in high places. No sooner said than done. Erundina spoke with her neighbor Maruxa, a single mother who occupied the ground floor of her building and enjoyed the protection of a well-connected Cortes lawyer. This great gentleman agreed to make things easier for them.
