Bakery forced to close due to lack of staff is set to reopen after receiving flood of applications

"My business is my life and, despite my age, I have to reopen because I have served my clientele for many years. I have now found two bakers who know what they are doing and on Tuesday they will start work".

Pepe Rico started from nothing in 1984, rebuilt a bakery in ruins, learnt the trade in another and grew to become one of the leading names in bread, pastries and cakes in Antequera. The bakery-confectionery Rico produced an average of 5,000 loaves of bread.

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When two of his bakers were due to retire this year he advertised for their replacements but he had no applicants. He tried changing the traditional early morning hours of the job, from 7.30am to midday, but nobody was interested, even though he was offering a monthly salary of up to 1,850 euros.

He regrets that there are no young people who want to do these artisan jobs and he blames the culture of promoting aid rather than training for young people. “I think that if training was sought, we would not have closed down as is happening in many bakeries," Rico said.

But now his bakery has a renewed future and, from Tuesday, the smell of freshly baked bread will once again waft through Calle Merecillas.