Walkathon for Water. Credit: AEHCOS

For many people, passing their driving test represents freedom, independence and the start of a new chapter. For long-time Costa del Sol expat Steve Marshall, it certainly did.“I was thinking over my morning cup of tea, how often do I use my car each week?” Steve says.

Looking back, he remembers exactly how important getting behind the wheel felt.“When I passed my driving test (second time I admit) it felt as if I’d been awarded a badge of honour. I was a driver! I was independent and I loved it.”Years later, however, Steve admits his attitude towards older motorists has changed considerably.“I looked at ‘older’ drivers and wondered in despair how they could still be on the road – such was the intolerance of youth,” he recalls. “With the years has come a little bit more wisdom.”

Age is not the only question

Steve believes there is no simple age at which someone should automatically stop driving. “Age alone should not be the only consideration,” he says. Instead, he believes older motorists need to take an honest look at several factors that can affect their ability behind the wheel.“Your sight, reactions, ability to park, medication, reduced mobility and general tiredness are all things that need your honest attention if you are to truly be a safe and considerate driver,” Steve explains. That honest assessment can be difficult, particularly when driving has been part of someone’s independence for decades. Steve also believes motorists should consider whether keeping a car still makes financial sense.

Is your car still worth the cost?

Insurance, tax, servicing and other running costs can add up quickly, particularly for someone living on a pension. “How often do you use your car and does the aforementioned cost warrant that drain on your pension?” Steve asks. His own experience provides a good example.

“My own car insurance was more than 300 euros for the year,” he says. Steve uses his car less than he once did, but there is an important reason he has not given it up.“With no bus route to fall back on it’s a lifeline,” he explains.

Do you still need such a big car?

Steve also questions whether older motorists sometimes continue driving vehicles that are larger than they actually need. “I have a ‘mature’ estate vehicle that never lets me down – but really a smaller vehicle would do the job just as well,” he admits. “In the past I needed a larger vehicle but that requirement no longer exists.”

He has noticed other older drivers continuing to use large, comfortable cars and believes this can sometimes create a misleading sense of security. “I see ‘older’ drivers in big, very comfortable cars that in truth cocoon them from the realities of the road,” he says. “That false sense of well being and security is a recipe for disaster.”

Giving up the car does not mean giving up

For Steve, perhaps the most important point is that deciding to stop driving should not be seen as surrendering independence. “If you feel the time is right to relinquish your car don’t think of it as giving up your independence because it isn’t,” he says. “There is a time in life for everything and alternatives are often just around the corner.”

For anyone facing that difficult decision, Steve’s message is ultimately a positive one.

“Whatever you decide, live your best life,” he says, “even if it no longer includes your ‘trusty metal friend’.”

The 2026/27 flu and Covid campaign is already under way across Andalucia, including the Costa del Sol from Sotogrande to Torremolinos and the inland towns behind the coast. It opened on Thursday, October 1, and further groups are being added over the next three weeks. The timetable is the same throughout the region, so residents in Estepona, Marbella, Fuengirola, Benalmadena and Torremolinos follow the same dates as people further inland, and the same schedule already published for Axarquia and Granada.

Who can get vaccinated and when

The first groups have been eligible since October 1. That includes children aged six months to almost five, children aged five to 17 with health conditions or other risk factors, pregnant women, and teachers of children under five. Children aged three and four are preferably being given the nasal flu vaccine at school.

Residents of care homes and disability centres have also been included from the first day, together with the staff who look after them.

From Wednesday, October 7, the programme expands to people aged 80 and over, people with high dependency who are cared for at home and their usual carers, plus healthcare and social-care professionals. People aged 70 and over can join from October 14, as can adults under 60 with specified health conditions or risk factors.

The last October expansion is on October 21, when the flu jab opens to everyone aged 60 and over. Police and other security forces, firefighters, prison staff and people whose jobs involve exposure to animals are included from the same date.

Covid vaccination is more tightly targeted than the flu jab. The Servicio Andaluz de Salud is concentrating the Covid dose on people aged 70 and over, care-home residents and people with qualifying health conditions, rather than offering it to the whole adult population. The timing matters: Covid has already moved Spain into an epidemic phase, while flu is still below the threshold.

What about non-EU residents?

British and other non-EU residents on the Costa del Sol follow the same Andalucia-wide timetable if they are covered by the public health system. A resident aged 80 or over can book from October 7. Someone aged 70 to 79 can do so from October 14, and those aged 60 to 69 join the flu programme from October 21. People who live with someone for whom the flu jab is recommended can also be vaccinated when that group enters the programme.

What is different this year

The high-dose flu vaccine, previously reserved for people aged 80 and over, is now being offered from 75. Care-home residents, and people aged 12 and over with certain forms of immunosuppression, are being given the protein-based Covid vaccine Bimervax. Later in the campaign, the Junta also plans to offer RSV vaccination to nursing-home residents and adults with severe immunosuppression. Details will come through the usual SAS channels.

Take-up is the other reason to book early. In the last completed campaign, Malaga was among Andalucia’s top-performing provinces, but coverage still fell well short of the groups the health service wants to reach.

Walk-in days later in the autumn

Appointments can be made through ClicSalud+, the Salud Andalucia and Salud Responde apps, Salud Responde on 955 54 50 60, or at the local health centre. Not every centre is a vaccination point, so it is worth checking the location and the hours before travelling.

For anyone who would rather not book, the SAS has set walk-in flu sessions every Wednesday from November 11 to December 16, plus two “super Saturdays” in shopping centres. Dates and venues for those Saturdays have not yet been confirmed.