Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Abandoning their dream

The Daily Telegraph tells us that 90,000 Britons left Spain last year. Although the native population grew by 141,361 last year, the total population shrunk from 47,129,783 to 46,725,164.

It is not just Brits who are leaving, Germans and French are leaving as well. It seems that the only nationality to increase their presence are the Chinese.

The reasons for people leaving differ according to age. Whilst younger Brits are having trouble finding work, retirees are faced with changes in their circumstances. Getting older, losing a partner and the rise in the cost of living here are making Spain less attractive for many.

I still believe that the biggest stumbling block for many is the language. Even those who live in ex-pat communities with English shops and bars, have to get to grips with the language to deal with bureaucracy which can be mind numbingly difficult for those with insufficient command of Spanish.

Actually, I have heard of one couple, who owned the house below us, they moved back to Britain and are now looking to return to Spain. The dreadful winter this year has probably made them rethink about the rosy picture of England they had when living here.

When asked, Pam and I always say that we have no desire to return to England but that, if our circumstances change, we may have to reconsider our position. I doubt that we would consider selling up though. Instead we’d possibly rent somewhere in England to spend a little more time there. As it stands, we visit England about four times per year for just over a week on each occasion. After about 8 days in England we are always eager to return to Bigastro.

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