When tourists arrive to Andalusia for their summer holidays or mid-winter break they soon discover that some of their fellow countrymen are so enamoured with the place that they stayed behind when their group went home or organised a move, lock, stock and barrel, or made elaborate plans to retire here when the time came. Immediately the visitors start wondering "Just what is life like for foreigners who settle on Andalusia?" The answer is they love every minute of it and would not dream of going home or moving elsewhere after experiencing the lifestyle.

Any initial hiccups are soon smoothed away by the charm of the local people, the Andalusians. Newcomers find plenty of neighbours, whether Spanish or foreign, who speak their language and help them settle in. While foreign residents who do learn to speak Spanish inevitably get more out of their life on the coast as they can communicate with more people and take part in a wider range of activities, it is by no means a necessity. Thousands live very full lives on the coast with only a smattering of the language, while many town halls have set up special offices with staff who speak their language to help them with bureaucracy.

While the language is usually the first question that people ask about, the second is generally the food. Those foreign residents who seek items from their home countries, which years ago were unheard of in Spain, will be surprised to find that almost everything (at least from EU countries) is available here and they need lack nothing. And in addition, there is all that wonderfully healthy Mediterranean food, fish, fruit and vegetables.

And what about the lifestyle? What do foreign residents do with their time if they do not work? This is where Andalusia really comes into its own as it caters for absolutely every type of lifestyle and taste.

First of all, for those who work it provides a very pleasant atmosphere to work in as the Andalusians, always full of vitality and with a ready quip, make extremely congenial colleagues. Foreign residents who have children find that they can choose between sending them to a Spanish school or one in which the system and the language are the same as at home.