Most people move to Spain for an improved quality of life. They spend years working up to the move and in some respects put their “actual” life on hold until they get to the place of the improved quality of life. However, I don’t think that Spain is the cure for all. Of course Spain holds some obvious ingredients that can make life more pleasurable e.g. the sun and nice beaches but there is more to life than that.
I think the association with Spain and the improved quality of life is purely psychological. Whether consciously or subconsciously the move to Spain for many people is about quashing their own personal boundaries and testing themselves by stepping right outside their comfort zone. It is more about the challenge of setting up a new life in a foreign country which is not too foreign. It takes for them to do something as drastic as a move to Spain in order to change all areas of their life.
People report that their quality of life is improved in Spain because once they get there they make a greater effort. There is something about people making the move to Spain that inspires them to re-evaluate their priorities and make changes in all areas of their life. They usually don’t consider that had they stayed in the UK, they could have easily have made some of the changes that they did in Spain.
Making an effort to make new friends is one example. It is less threatening striking up a conversation in Spain with fellow Brits because people appear to be more receptive to new people and are less judgemental outside of their comfort zone in the UK. People who would never associate with each other in the UK form friendships when they move away. Instead of staying in watching television, they take time out to socialise with their friends. Why don’t people make time for friends in the UK?
Living in Spain gives them an opportunity to learn a foreign language. With the abundance of evening courses on offer in the UK, there is every opportunity to do this but, I admit, there is nothing like studying Spanish in Spain to keep you motivated.
They may say that they eat more healthily in Spain but with the choice in the UK supermarkets there is nothing to stop them enjoying similar foods. Instead, they opt for the convenience foods rather than cook meals from scratch
They enjoy a more outdoor life whereas in the UK they would have spent their weekends indoors touching up the paintwork. However, nothing was to stop them wrapping up warm and taking a walk in the country or by the seaside in the UK. Don’t use the poor weather as an excuse as sometimes the hot Spanish sun can be more prohibitive than the bad weather in the UK. It’s easier to warm up than cool down.
Unfortunately, many people in the UK feel that they have to behave in a certain way and be part of the hum drum life. They don’t realise that Britain offers many alternatives to spending the weekend at Homebase or B&Q. So, just because your neighbours spend their Saturday mornings catching up with housework or cleaning the car it doesn’t mean that you have to. Why don’t you do what you would do in Spain on a Saturday morning like take your children to the park or go for a coffee instead?