Christmas is not Andalucia´s biggest religious celebration - Semana Santa has that distinction. But it is nonetheless a big deal, with all the seasonal ambience, lights, markets, special food and other trappings. Every school, shop, office and home has a Nativity Scene.

In Andalucia and especially along the Costa del Sol, many worthwhile charities do excellent work to help different groups of society through times of need. From helping sick children and orphans, sufferers of diseases such as diabetes to giving quality of life to the terminally ill, there is help at hand.

The issues faced by owning a car and driving in Andalucia are similar to those faced in the rest of Spain. Some of these issues outlined below are different depending on whether you hold a license from Spain, or another EU country, or if you hold a non-EU license. Listed below is information on a variety of car and driver-related topics.

Spain is a fairly bureaucratic country, with a red tape tradition going back centuries. It is inevitable that you will encounter numerous paperwork projects while you are living here. The following articles will provide insights into some specific projects as well general information and advice that should help you regardless of the task you face.

The foreign residents to Andalucia and the concept of working form home has helped create a large demand for a variety of high tech services. The technology now makes it possible to keep in touch with friends and family and run a small business in any location from the comfort of sunny, southern Spain. Computers and networks with the help of Broadband connections make this possible today.

WiFi and Hot Spots are easy to find in Andalucia. Described on a discussion about the then latest technology on Radio 4, the advent of WiFi was described as lying somewhere between 'Armageddon and Utopia'.

In Andalucia the Internet plays a big part in helping business generate customers and sales leads both locally and from overseas. Most business's either have or require a good Internet presence either as a shop window or as an active lead generating source worked in to the companies overall marketing mix.

Today you can advertise a business to a worldwide audience for just one euro per day or less. An advert on the Internet works for you around the clock for a fraction of the price of traditional advertising. The key, however, remains the same: ensuring your message reaches potential clients and following through on the promises you make.

If you are travelling to Spain in the near future the chances are that you will want to keep in touch by making sure you have access to the Internet. Ease of communication is also part of the reason why so many British and Northern Europeans are moving to Spain. You can continue working just as if you were still in the UK. There has been a huge reduction in the cost of international phone calls.

As everywhere, in Andalucia anyone with injuries such as deep cuts, gashes or burns is advised to get a tetanus vaccine, particularly if they can't remember when they had their last vaccination.

If you are taking oral anti-coagulants (medication to avoid blood-clotting), doctors at your local health clinic are responsible to keep an eye on your general health and to evaluate your risk factors in order to decide whether or not you can monitor your therapy on your own or need a doctor to keep closer tabs on your situation.

If you are a smoker, beware that your family doctor in Andalucia has an eye out for you! As part of the stop-smoking programme in this part of Spain, doctors at local clinics are supposed to ask all new patients whether they smoke in order to ensure that smokers are informed regarding the risks involved in continuing their habit and the benefits of stopping now.

Paediatric care begins the day your baby is born. Newborn babies must have the heel prick test at 5 to 7 days. This involves making an appointment - which hopefully you can do by ringing the public helpline and then bringing the baby to your local health centre for this test which is designed to detect possible metabolic problems such as hypothyroidism or phenylketonuria.

Some types of minor surgeries are carried out at local health clinics. Situations where minor surgery would take place at your local clinic include abscesses, ingrown nails, warts, cysts and other problems affecting the skin or the tissues just below the skin. Generally these are simple, easy to resolve problems that require low-technology, only local anaesthesia (if any), and they pose little risk in terms of complications.

If you have chronic conditions that require you to take more than five different medications for six months or more, the Andalucian Public Health System considers you to be a "multi-medication user". That could make you eligible for a standardised review of your medications with the aim of studying possible interactions and long term side effects of taking all these different substances simultaneously.

General Practitioners across Andalucia usually carry out the initial exams to determine if COPD could be a problem. From there patients are supposed to receive help managing their disease and even recuperating some of their lung capacity through rehabilitation whenever possible.

There are a number of instances in which doctors or nurses can be sent to your home. Technically this is something that should be offered to you in times of need, however, in practice you're dealing with a public system and you would do well to know your rights and then insist on them (if necessary try "polite pleading" as it often has good results).

This programme is, above everything else, supposed to be confidential. If you think you could be at-risk for exposure to HIV, visit your family doctor to ask about testing. In theory, testing is to be available to anyone who asks for it as well as patients who have HIV symptoms and those who are especially at risk.

Patients with high blood pressure will find help managing this chronic condition at their local public health clinic. In order to ensure standardised, quality care across our region, doctors have a specific protocol to follow for anyone with a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg, which is determined by taking readings three times during a minimum period of one week.

Healthcare workers as well as prison staff, policemen, fire fighters and street cleaners are all expected to get this jab. Anyone who has multiple sex partners should talk to their doctor about the vaccine. Also on the list are people living with Hepatitis B sufferers, those living in institutions or sentenced to long terms in prison, intravenous drug users and people who travel to countries where the disease is prevalent.