Costa del Sol, the southern part of Spain, is one of the most popular tourist destinations around the world blessed with serene beaches, mountainous surrounding, and a soothing climate in common with a touch of urbanization. In fact, it has a mild climate that allures travellers all around the globe to have their vacation in a relaxing atmosphere.As...

Fish is a major part of the Mediterranean diet and thank heavens, in this part of the world, its popularity is not waning. They are still a regular part of the family’s weekly menus, not just a once a week or one off special! Obviously living on the Costa del Sol helps-most of the fish in the shops, vans and restaurants here is so fresh they can virtually...

Ok, you have made the move the house is fab, the climate is superb and the only nagging doubt is how to improve your Spanish and how to get the kids speaking Spanish fluently ASAP.After all ,you didn’t move here to only carry on speaking to your English friends and nor did your children! You can’t deny your teenagers the opportunity to mix with...

If there is something Spain’s hospital system knows about, it is delivering babies. Spaniards are notorious for having large families and thus hospitals and doctors have a lot of practice in this area.Foreigners who decide to have their baby in Spain will find that the medical attention in Spain for pre-natal care, child delivery and post-natal...

Bring out the flamenco dress and head for the Old Town – it’s Feria time in Marbella! Those from Andalucia or, in fact, anyone who really wants to enter into the spirit of the “feria” dress up in their finery. Enthusiastic Spaniards dance through the streets in their best feria dresses and inspire the uninspired to get up and dance...

Buying a car is a big step in anyone’s life, let alone when you are trying to settle in a new country with a different language you may not be completely familiar with.Going without a car is not really an option for most people on the coast and inland areas as the public transport system in Spain provides not much more than a basic service.Big towns...

If you are driving a foreign registered car and living permanently in Spain (with residency) then legally you must import (register) your car within six months of being in Spain. EU legislation requires that a car be insured in its country of registration, so if you are now living in Spain with Spanish residency your car cannot legally be foreign registered.You...

The Costa del Sol is vast and if you dont have a car then you are stuck with taxis, buses or trains.Marbella does not actually have a train service just yet but it possible to get a bus to fuengirola, which has the closest train station linked directly with the mainn city of Malaga.Below you can find links to resources for local and national travel...

I thought it would be interesting for others to see how much basic items cost in Marbella for the person living here. Forget about Puerto Banus, that’s different, prices are more expensive at that end of Marbella, I am talking about prices in central marbella, the supermarket where us “commoners” go to buy our food stuffs.I have taken...

I spotted an advert in a costa del sol paper the other day which showed me a picture of a wireless device that you attach to your power mains and it shows you in real time how much electricity you are using.With the way things are at the moment, I thought it would be neat to be able to watch my electric spend, I mean the “leccy” is one...

The 2009 Marbella Property Market ReportAn up-to-date report on how the worldwide economic crisis is affectingthe property market in Spain’s most important resort city.By Christopher Clover, owner and Managing Director of Panorama, Marbella’s longest established Real Estate AgencyPlease select a download format from the options below.PDF...

Dont forget that on Sunday the 29th of March 2009 at 2am, the clocks go forward one hour so thats one hour less in bed!

Okay, I have had jazztel adsl a few months now with zero problems but last week it was out for a few hours, so I checked the jazztel.com web site to see who I should call.(I should point out that my phone line was not working either)If you are a business you have to call 1568Okay, see the problems here already? Dialling 1568 only works from a Jazztel...

If like me you have several mobile phones and a couple of landlines, but often want to forward all of those devices to one single number then usually the following sequence should work.To forward your telefonica  land line to a mobile number:1) Pick up the handset until you hear a dial tone2) On the phone keypad type *21* the mobile number #3)...

Although this is a little out of the way for us “Marbellians”, the King Bastion Leisure Centre in Gibraltar  has recently started showing films there.More information at:http://www.kingsbastion.gov.gi/cinema/times.aspHopefully sometime soon I can include these listings on my regular friday updates!