Having travelled, lived abroad and visited Spain, I imagined living there would not imply a drastic change in lifestyle other than learning the language, and different climate and food. However, I was in for a shock. I was immersed into a large, close knit, traditional family in the south of Spain in the early eighties and it was like stepping back in time. They had not long become a democracy, recently freed from years of dictatorship when time had stood still, especially for those living in the poorer areas of Andalucia.

The role of women was more related to that of my grandmother, for example a woman even needed her husband or father’s permission to open a bank account, whereas I had run my own business. My sister-in-law who was considerably younger than me had not been allowed to go on a school trip to France with Nuns, whereas I had been to France and Africa on school trips, travelled considerably and also lived and worked abroad.

I must have appeared as some sort of alien, I didn’t even speak their language consequently initially I was blissfully unaware of the fact my behaviour must have been rather shocking for them, I was used to doing everything unchaperoned which was unthinkable for some of my peers. However, they were warm and friendly, I grew to love the people and the lifestyle, and witnessed the radical change that swept over Spain during the following twenty years.