New gourmet food market for Seville!

Outdoor-loving flamenco aficionados - or indeed people who just happen to be visiting the city - will be happy to hear that the Bienal de Flamenco, which takes place until the end of this month, has a wide progr

Anyone who lives in Andalucia, or who is an aficionado of Spanish food, will be well aware of the leading role played by "liquid gold" - olive oil - in the region's cuisine.

The best fried fish in Spain is in... Andalucia!

Although it probably doesn't come as much of a surprise, El Pais recently published a list of the restaurants serving the best pescaito frito (fried fish) in Spain, and nine out of ten were in Andalucia.

The Paralympic Games

It's all over. Our glorious golden summer of sport has finished. The Paralympics finished in spectacular fashion last night with a stunning Closing Ceremony, and now I'm watching the parade through London in honour of Team GB and Paralympics GB, on my computer here in Spain. No, this has nothing to do with Andalucia or Spain, but everything to do with being British, wherever you live.

Patience, perspective and planning ahead: dealing with spanish administration and small children.

A kind English friend, recently returned from her summer visit, has just lent me a book on parenting - the Supernanny toddler one, which she said all her friends back in England are using. It's the new Gina Ford, except less rigid (if the name means nothing, don't worry - this post isn't a discussion on comparative theories of child-rearing).

Back to VAT

If, like me, you've been away for the summer, and have recently arrived back in Spain, you may be somewhat alarmed by the rise in IVA, effective as of last Saturday, 1 September. IVA is Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido, and applies to virtually all goods and services, except health and educational. The system of what goods and services are in which category is complicated - what tax isn't? - but I've tried to offer some pointers here.