Originally the Nasrid Palace of Los Infantes, this was converted into the Franciscan convent of San Francisco under Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand soon after their reconquest of Granada. Now a hotel, part of the state-owned Parador chain.

The Sevilla Fair might be all about drinking, dancing and parading about on horseback, but don’t think for a minute this means there are no rules for participants; in fact, the rules are very strict.

Visitors to Seville will notice a symbol on many signs around the city, from taxis and buses to sewer covers, consisting of the letters ´NO8DO´. This is the city´s logo, and legend says that it originates from the 13th-century coat of arms awarded to Sevilla by King Alfonso X the Wise.

To make your house look like a real, traditional, with-bells-on Andalucian Christmas home, you need the following: a belen, a pointsettia, a small red plant (also known as flor de pascua, Easter flower, and estrella de navedad, Christmas star, a jamon

Costumes at the Cadiz Carnaval are about more than doing clever things with face paint and papier mache; they are social levellers. Going back centuries, disfraces were essential in breaking down social barriers, helping classes to come together, providing freedom from repression. People could let loose, follow their instincts, dress up as duchesses or peasants, or fantastical creatures.

Andalucia has one of the world's top courses. In Sotogrande close to Gibraltar, is widely acknowledged as being one of the best courses in the world, and number one in continental Europe.

Andalucia is an ideal year-round destination for your golfing holiday with its average eight hours of sunshine per day, and spectacular coastline filled with over 100 courses designed by world-famous names such as Trent Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros.

As of July last year, bullfighting in Catalonia is banned, joining the Canary Islands in bidding goodbye to La Fiesta. There are strong anti-bloodsports movements in other parts of Spain - even Andalucia, which is considered its home (see FACT IV) - though it remains to be seen if or when these people will achieve their aim in ensuring that trajes de luces (suits of lights, worn by bullfighters) only appear as museum pieces. An estimated 150,000 people are employed in the sport in Spain, from bull-breeders to suit makers.

In reality, Málaga airport is full of fascinating facts and you won’t regret reading up on the history of this interesting airport.

This dark period in Catholicism´s history is still endlessly, if morbidly, fascinating, and it is rumoured that a museum on the Spanish church´s merciless 300-year purge of ´heretics´ is being planned in Seville.

In the 19th century, Malaga was popular with well-to-do Brits recovering from illness. Its mild climate made it ideal for those with a weak constitution, but many succumbed while living here. At first, infidels (non-Catholics) were buried upright in the sand at night, so their bodies would often reappear on the beach. Then in 1830 the British consul finally obtained a plot of land for an English cemetery, outside the city walls. Its more illustrious inhabitants include the writer Gerald Brenan and his wife, poet and novelist, Gamel Woolsey.

Fortified wines were first exported to England from Jerez as long ago as the 14th century; some British Catholics fled here in the 16th century and started up as wine-traders. Later, in the 17th century, others opened their own bodegas (Garvey, Duff-Gordon, Wisdom & Warter).

Jaen province has more olive trees than any other province in Spain, 40 million in fact - not surprising since its economy is based on olive oil. Liquid gold, as the locals call it, appears in all aspects of Jaen´s gastronomy.

Inside Jaen´s impressive Renaissance cathedral, behind the high altar, is a much-prized religious artifact: a cloth said to have been used by St Veronica to wipe Christ´s face as he carried the cross to Golgotha. The lienzo del Santo Rostro (cloth of the Holy Face) has an image of his countenance, allegedly, and is housed in its own chapel.

As well as building impressive new residential areas, theatres and railways (see Fact 1), the British Rio Tinto mine workers (see Fact 1), who lived in and near Huelva, had a profound and lasting effect on Spanish life - they introduced football to Spain.

The intricate interiors of the Alhambra are as instructive as they are exquisite. Under Islamic law, no depictions of living beings (people, plants or animals) are allowed, so instead the walls and ceilings are covered with symbolic, geometrical patterns, as well as the Nasrids´ motto.

Cordoban painter Julio Romero de Torres is much loved in his home town, and around Spain - his works, which you`ll see on posters everywhere, have adorned postage stamps and bank notes, and inspired songs and films.

Cadiz was a favourite victim of attack by many of England´s most famed marine adventurers - Sir Francis Drake made his mark in 1587, capturing and destroying so many ships that he delayed the Spanish Armada by a year. Soon after, in 1596, the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth I´s favourite, burned the city to the ground.

It's not well known that John Lennon wrote Strawberry Fields Forever in Almeria. He lived in the city in autumn 1966, filming the part of Private Gripweed in Richard Lester's black comedy How I Won the War in the nearby desert at Tabernas. Lennon first stayed in an apartment near El Zapillo, one of the city`s beaches, then he moved to the more spacious 19th-century mansion, Santa Isabel, on Camino de Romero (known locally as Cortijo Romero), with his then-wife Cynthia.

Within easy reach of Antequera you will find two amazing rock attractions: El Torcal park, with its extraordinary limestone rock formations, including la Copa (the wine glass), el Lagaro (the lizard) and la Loba (the she-wolf); and El Chorro gorge, sheer 400-metre rock walls, through which the river Guadalhorce flows.