The pain in Spain proves too much as expat Britons pack their bags
Janine Richmond was busy packing boxes this week, ready to leave her home near Marbella for the last time. After six years living on the Costa del Sol, Mrs Richmond and her husband, Nicholas, reluctantly took the decision to return to Britain with their two young daughters.
“We just couldn’t make it work any more financially,” she said, as she prepared for an emotional farewell. “We would have loved to have stayed but things are too hard here for my husband and we cannot last any longer.”
The Richmonds, like a growing number of British expats, are heading home as the sun sets on their Spanish dream.
The low value of the pound, the end of Spain’s decade-long building bonanza and the global financial meltdown have conspired to make Britain a more attractive place to many expatriates, despite the deepening recession at home.
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The Spanish sunshine and way of life cannot hide the dire recession into which Spain is falling. Unemployment stands at 17.4 per cent — more than double the European average — and more than four million people are out of work. The property market, which had employed large numbers of Britons in southern Spain, is stagnant. No new homes have been built for four months by any big developer.
Mrs Richmond, 38, moved with her family to Spain in 2003 when Mr Richmond, 40, a salesman, was offered a job. At that time Spanish growth was outstripping the rest of Europe and jobs were plentiful. Next week, as they unpack the boxes at a relative’s home in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, they face the prospect of starting again from nothing.
Theirs is a familiar story.
“The sun is nice but it doesn’t pay your bills, that’s the bottom line,” said Richard Shears, who works in real estate in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol. After seven years in Spain Mr Shears and his wife, Judith, are planning to return to London at the end of the year.
“The opportunities are very thin on the ground here. The real-estate market is very flat right now,” said Mr Shears, 38.
He said the Costa del Sol, which depends on British holidaymakers, had seen a noticeable reduction in the amount tourists were spending. “One newsagent told me he took €100 last Sunday whereas he would normally have taken 1,000.”
“People are going back because there are still more opportunities at home and you have the support of family and friends.” Applying for state benefits in Spain might prove difficult for many British expatriates, many of whom speak little Spanish. “Here if you want to get help from the authorities you have to wade through red tape which even the Spanish don’t understand half of,” said Mr Shears. As the Shears’ employers know nothing of their plans, their identities have been changed.
No official figures exist for how many are heading home. The British Embassy estimates that one million Britons live at least part of the year in Spain. Many of them choose to remain officially living in Britain for tax or pensions, so to British authorities they never actually left.
The British Embassy has posted advice for those returning on its website. Expat websites feature forums on the subject.
For those hunting for jobs in Britain, the idea of swapping the Spanish sun to start again in the gloom of Britain in recession may seem strange. However, many returning expatriates say that although things are tough in Britain, competing for jobs with Spaniards who have the advantage of the language and family contacts often makes it harder in Spain.
Others say British expats experiencing financial problems often lack family and friends to fall back on.
For thousands of pensioners who hoped to spend their twilight years sunning themselves on the costas, the fall in the pound has forced them to head home. Andrew Anderson, 73, a retired architect from Edinburgh, who is president of the Costa del Sol British Association, has had enough.
“We have seen the value of our pensions go down by 30 per cent. You get used to a certain lifestyle but we can’t maintain that now,” Mr Anderson said.
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