Spain was once a place where northern Europeans, averagely around 50 years old, would buy a second home for retirement, holidays and weekends. This label is changing as a different generation is approaching, a generation where a plane flight to Spain is less than a night out in London and a generation (especially from the U.K) where people cannot get their foot on the property ladder.
There are approximately one million people from the UK living in Spain. In recent years, things have changed; properties are no longer being sold only to retired Britons who fancy playing golf in the sun. Increasingly younger people are moving abroad to live permanently. This is due to a new found freedom of travel and residency within the countries of the EU. Also many Britons living in Spain do not figure in official statistics, this normally occurs because they spend most of the year abroad, but are still registered (by choice) in the UK for tax and social security.
Most young people come to work. Others, however, take advantage of cheap flights and commute back to the UK. Not only are there many English Language Schools around the Costa del Sol but increasingly there are now 14 English-language schools on the Costa Blanca, with brings a high demand for Native English people to teach there.
The work that young people can get in Spain varies. For somebody without a degree, there is plenty of bar and restaurant work along the south coasts. These include hotels and hospitality. In some English areas there is pretty much any type of skilled work from hairdressing to plumbing. Professionals could go to the coast or to any of the major cities such as, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. There are many job sites in English for English people in Spain and these days the diversity of positions is equivalent to that of the UK market.
Another reason for younger Britons to move to Spain is if their parents are already living there, which includes close friends and family.
A YouGov survey of more than 4,600 people aged between 18 and 29 found that nearly half (47 per cent) were planning to buy a home abroad. Research has found that two thirds of investors were buying property for the first time, in the comparatively cheaper housing markets in Spain, France, the US and Italy. The research established that 57 per cent of people purchased a property abroad to flee from the British weather, while 41 per cent were tempted by the lower cost of living overseas.
When you speak English and perhaps a second language, doors fly open wherever you are in the world and these doors have money behind them, so the next question remains, why struggle in cold weather to have the basics, when you can sit under the sun, sipping freshly squeezed orange juice in your own home.
Written by
Belinda Milestone
Belinda Milestone works as a content writer for oppSpain, a company that is specialised in selling off plan properties in Spain.