Its inevitable that when you move here you want to keep in touch with blighty (or have you been listening to the Forces programmes too much!).

However just setting up your Sky satellite (and not at a great expense I must admit) will mean that you are isolating yourself from the community in which you live. If you only intend to spend 2 or 3 months here – stop reading now- you are off the hook and who wants to fall behind on Corrie or Eastenders?

But if you are here for the long haul i.e. a life change and intend to bring your children up here please buy an aerial not just a satellite dish!

I will tell you why! First of all we now have 6 channels, all free – no BBC extortionate licence here (and what has it just gone up to – about 150 a year?). Also most towns and villages have their own TV service, a definite value added concept, but more of that later!

First of all the national channels TV1 and La Dos are all that you would expect. Competent news, documentaries, weather, drama, comedy and soaps. The soaps need a bit of explanation, some of them are home grown, so to speak, but some of them (especially the afternoon ones) are purchased from South America – no language problem don’t you know!

These very emotional and dramatic offerings are guaranteed to provoke laughter even if they aren’t meant to-but the main advantage is that Spanish is spoken more slowly in South America than in Spain so the soaps are a superb way to learn Spanish – whilst having a good time.

Who needs a serious teacher when you can sit there listening to lines that make Eastenders seem like a serious political documentary! Los Gavillanes, the last buzz has been overtaken by Bea on Antenna 3, now syndicated through Europe. The UK definitely has a version.

Bea based on Betty the Ugly is the original rags to riches tale with all the true wealth of emotions that you would think!

However the soaps of the moment, with spin-off band of course, is Rebelde and Rebelde way. These are ridiculous but entertaining boarding school sagas, Rebelde Way is from Argentina and on Cuatro and Rebelde is from Mexico on Antena 3.

This is not the usual type of boarding school as far as I can see. The girls are too old and the mothers improbable! As for the storyline!

If Big brother and other reality shows are your game youre in luck

Then we have our Andalucian channels, much more to our liking!.

Lots of rural culture and agricultural shows – really familiar reassuring stuff hunting ,fishing wildlife and such.