We recently asked readers of The Local Spain why they packed up and moved here. The answers ranged from holiday romances that turned into 40-year marriages to Brexit, Trump and the simple search for a better way of life.
Our recent Facebook callout asking why readers moved to Spain was meant purely out of curiosity. We imagined we’d get a few responses, ranging from sun-chasing to cheaper retirement options, with a smattering of Brexit and Trump thrown in.
However, you responded in droves, and the answers were as heartwarming as they were a fascinating snapshot of what the English speaking world views as Spain’s virtues.
In our callout, three distinct themes emerged: love, lifestyle and politics.
“I fell in love with the country”
For many readers, the decision to move to Spain came from the heart rather than the head. Christine’s story started on a teenage holiday. “From my first holiday at age 17, I fell in love with the country,” she told us.
She kept coming back for the next 43 years, holidaying in Spain until she could finally afford to retire here permanently. “There is no going back,” she added.
Kristin’s Spanish adventure also began as a two-week trip 43 years ago. Her American boyfriend at the time went home, but she stayed, got a job, and eventually married a local. Four decades, two sons, a grandchild and “many pets and an excellent career” later, she’s now awaiting her Spanish citizenship.
For Syd, too, the move was driven by following love. His son and the son’s girlfriend — now wife — decided to relocate to Spain, “and we just followed them.” Fifteen years into retirement at 60, he calls it “the best time of my life”.
Some love stories were more spontaneous. Fiona summed hers up in a single line: “my future husband was my waiter”.
“A quixotic desire to avoid the rat race”
For other readers, the pull wasn’t love but a search for a better day-to-day life: safer streets, a slower pace and a lower cost of living.
Gizmo’s move, 26 years ago, was driven by “adventure and disillusion with UK society”. He had a good job and a house in Britain, but sold up, retrained for a bus licence, reasoning it would guarantee work without relying on bar jobs, and started again. “It’s been mega hard, but I needed to do it,” he says. “Turned up in Spain and was welcomed.” He now owns three properties and is a Spanish citizen.
Dan’s reasoning was more philosophical: “a quixotic desire to avoid the rat race and find a cheaper, simpler lifestyle”.
Nikki points to a whole list of everyday advantages: Spain is safer, more affordable and sunnier than the UK, she says, but it’s the people who really sold her on it. “It is nigh on impossible to walk the length of any street without several ‘holas’ from total strangers said with a warm smile,” she says. “It is a wonderful place to live.”
“The care was excellent and we still have a life”
A third group of readers didn’t just move towards Spain, they felt pushed out of somewhere else.
Randy and his wife realised that once he retired, they could no longer afford to live anywhere in the US outside what he calls “a MAGA swamp.” Because his wife holds an EU passport, the couple were able to relocate to Andalusia, “otherwise it would have been financially very difficult”.
The move paid off in more ways than one: when his wife was later diagnosed with cancer, the healthcare she received in Spain likely saved them from financial ruin. “The care was excellent and we still have a life”, he said. “We love our life in Andalucía and have never looked back”.
Denice’s reason was blunter still: she left, she says, “to escape the fascism that has swallowed the U.S.”
For Leighton, the trigger came from Brexit pushing him into early retirement a decade ago. He and his wife “sold our main house, my business and crunched our numbers so we could do it” he explained. “Best thing we did”.
Between sunshine, safety, financial security and “swamp” they left behind, our readers’ answers make one thing clear: whatever brought them to Spain, almost none of them are looking back.
