Inside epic underground home teen started digging 8 years ago after parent row
Andres Canto was 14 years old when he got into a minor argument with his parents, who refused to let him wear a tracksuit to go out in the local village.
In retaliation, the teen stayed at home and picked up his grandfather's pickaxe, taking out his frustration by angrily attacking the ground in the garden.
Eight years on and a small hole in the grass has turned into a large underground cave, with steps leading deep down to a structure compromising of a living and bedroom.
And the 22-year-old has given the Mirror a tour of his unconventional hideout - which has since been kitted out with WiFi, speakers and a coal stove.
Andres has shared an updated sneak peek inside his underground cave (Andres Canto)
He began digging the hideout in his family's garden over eight years ago (Andres Canto)Andres told the Mirror: "In the last two years, I have extended the main room by lowering the ground level by another half metre.
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"I also started to dig a new tunnel 0.5 metres deeper to start a new room."
Andres, who is now an actor, lives in Murcia and studies at the Superior School of Dramatic Arts - but still finds time to work on his project at weekends.
"During the pandemic, I made great strides in the cave, but now I have less time to spend on it. I only dedicate four hours a week to dig the cave," he explained.
The 22-year-old still works on it every weekend while studying acting (Andres Canto)
He has decked it out with a mirror, chair, bed, WiFi and speakers (Andres Canto)Inside the cave, Andres has a coal stove for cooking, sound system for music, WiFi linked to his phone and a bed, as well as four electrical plug sockets.
The video footage shows the spacious floorplan with a comfortable camping chair for chilling and a mirror on the wall for getting ready, as well as drinks to keep him energised.
A couple of steps have been constructed to lead Andres even deeper underground, where his new room will soon be dug out.
The cave takes up approximately five square metres of the garden and is five metres below the surface.
In the rest of the garden, Andres' family have a pond and a water fountain - though much of the space is taken up by tools and equipment.
Andres was 14 when he started digging a hole after a row with his parents (@andresiko_16/Real Press)
It is five metres deep and provides a cool place to relax outside (Andres Canto)"All my family and friends are used to the cave, some of them even like to help out by digging up some dirt," he explained.
The student previously said he had no idea what initially sparked the idea of digging a hole at his family home in the town of La Romana, Spain.
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But he began using it as a way to wind down in the evenings after school, working on his excavation by hand several days a week.
The project stepped up a few gears when his friend Andreu brought round a pneumatic drill, and the pair spent up to 14 hours a week digging almost 10-foot into the earth in his parents' garden.
The layout of his retreat was often determined by the obstacles that got in the way of the project.
His family's backgarden has been taken over by the cave project (Andres Canto)
Andres has reinforced the ceilings to prevent a potential collapse (Andres Canto)Andres said: "Sometimes I came across a big stone and it could be frustrating after hours of digging that I had done almost nothing."
The soil was originally removed by hand using buckets, but as Andres went deeper and deeper, he began to study excavation techniques and later developed a pulley system to take rubble to the surface.
As he began to create rooms, he reinforced the ceilings using arched entrances and vaulted ceilings with reinforced columns to prevent a potential collapse.
Andres said the underground escape provides a cool place to relax in the summer, as it stays at a constant 20 or 21 degrees in the hottest months of the year.
However, he added that it does occasionally flood during heavy rain and often attracts insects, spiders and snails.
He even got authorities to check it was legal and they found no issues with it (@andresiko_16/Real Press)He said his parents were fine with the build - but that authorities did visit to ensure it was legal, finding no issues as it couldn't be defined as a basement, extension or storage structure.
Andres explained: "It's great, I have everything I need. It can be tiring to work here as it is wet and there is not much air going around, but I have found my own motivation to keep on digging every day.
"I have always liked to build little huts. I live in the countryside and often when I found abandoned wood there, I would build a nice house. I was a kid with a lot of imagination."
Have you built an unusual hideout in your garden? Get in touch. Email [email protected].
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