This is the first English text I am writing in this blog, so, I will tell you, in a few words, a little bit about me and why I published it.

I have worked as a nurse for more than thirty years, most of this time in the place I grew up. It is a little town in the south of Spain called Alcalá la Real, in the Andalusian inland.

As  a nurse working in  Primary Health Assistance, I have  had many relationships with people of all ages, from pregnant women and little children to very old people. Nevertheless, the elderly and dependent people occupy much more time in my daily activities.

Therefore, since the beginning of my working life, I have heard numerous comments from these old people  about how they have perceived so many changes in our society, lifestyle and health assistance.

I must say that I have always enjoyed these kinds of conversations and many times I have been impressed with their comments about  the past. Most of our local people who now are in their eighties or nineties suffered in their infancy and youth with scarcity and a poor standard of living, plus the consequences of a civil war.

In the same way, I have often been shocked too when talking with young people: I realized  how little they knew about our recent past. In my opinion, many of these young people perhaps think that our Health Assistance System, our rights and welfare were always like they are today.

So, changes in our lives and society always have attracted my attention, but at the same time many circumstances of them were unknown to me. This was the reason why,  some time ago, I decided  to look for information about health and its recent history in Alcalá la Real.

I also have to say that I enjoy writing and spending my free time with computers. Learning about new software and internet development is another of my hobbies so I decided to share  my research about health in Alcalá la Real in the last century in this blog.

Furthermore, as I am an English student and probably will be for a long time, I thought that writing some posts in this language could also be a good way to improve my English skills.

For that reason, I will write some texts about health, history and Alcala la Real in English. They won’t be a complete translation of every post of this blog, but I will share some information on the subject in this language too.

I hope you enjoy them.