If visiting Tenerife on holiday or as a newcomer to the island, a car will give you so much more mobility and flexibility because, excellent as the TITSA bus system is, you really do not want to be limited by public transport. At first Tenerife's right hand side road system may seem odd but take it slowly, give yourself time to adjust and you will soon be tearing up the TF1 with the best of them.

Don't expect Canarian drivers to follow the same road conventions that you are used to in the UK. Pedestrian crossings for example can be a hair-raising adventure for the idle stroller. Although required by law to give way to anyone waiting to cross few drivers actually do. In fact, one sure way to tell the residents from the tourists is the cautious way the residents approach a zebra crossing.

Roundabouts, having only been recently introduced to the island are something of a novelty. The one installed at the Guaza turn off has greatly improved the bottleneck there. The councils realized that roundabouts could solve a lot of similar problems and are now installing them liberally about the island.

Vehicles here do not have a road tax disc, however, road tax is payable at the town hall normally within the first five months of the year. You will not receive a reminder although you will be pleasantly surprised by the size of the bill.

Cars over 4 years old have to pass an ITV - this is similar to our MOT but must be booked in advance. The nearest ITV station for the south is close to Amarilla Golf, just off the south motorway at Las Chafiras. Larger vehicles have different requirements so always check the frequency of the ITV test.

Although everyone here refers to the main roads as the motorways (TF1, TF2 and TF5) under the Spanish Highway Code they are strictly not motorways, but duel carriageways. This means that you will see learner drivers, mopeds and all sorts of other vehicles driving up and down at alarming speeds.