By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 02 Apr 2016 • 8:00
Deafening headlines across Britain have carelessly declared that 100 Brits have fled Spain every day for two years. Brexit fears have been plugged as the chief culprit.
The real story is that the claims are sensationalist, sloppy and flat-out wrong. That our media is failing us and a great disservice is being done to British expatriates on the Costa del Sol.
In a skewering of the facts that would make Goebbels proud, claims have centred on United Nations data which has more than 380,000 Brits living in Spain in 2013 and roughly 309,000 during the past two years.
Dial those digits into your trusty calculator and you have a ready-made story with the perfect recipe of panic toasted with the divine authority of statistics.
Reality, however, paints a different picture. The UN numbers are widely considered to be a vast understatement, with sensible estimates placing the true volume of Brits at closer to a million.
The spike in departures from Spain was sparked almost entirely by the crisis, affecting the Spanish population far more than the British. This phenomenon occurred well before Brexit became a political hot potato.
As your free local newspaper it is incumbent on us to identify hype and hyperbole, to counter the spread of baseless fear, and the arrogance of attention seeking scribes who scan reality through profit tinted specs.
Here’s the real story of life in Spain. Property sales are surging, job opportunities rising, and businesses innovating. Last year saw the best tourism season in history and skyrocketing investment. Surveys repeatedly and demonstrably show that the Costa del Sol is one of the finest, safest and healthiest places to raise a family.
Rooted like oak trees on Europe’s land of milk and honey we enjoy fabulous nature, fresh food and the strongest community on the planet, and the vast majority of us wouldn’t give that up for the world, never mind a few sensationalist headlines.
Viva the Costa del Sol!
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Sorry, but my story is different. We came to Spain to build our dream home. Subsequently losing everything as the Junta stopped building and then classified thousands of homes illegal. We are in our 60’s, too late for us to start again. So I urge any-one thinking of re-locating to Spain. Don’t buy! You could get your fingers burnt. Also those properties that look to good to be true. They probably are. They are being sold by the government. The same government that deemed them illegal. Beware the demolition ball!
The 100 Brits leaving Spain every day for 2 years is just another of those stories that show how news media are desperate to create news now, for 2 years and Brexit worries is the biggest reason… right and the Queen of England was born in Malaga! If you read that from a newspaper then don’t buy it as it will be full of misguided lies and so you will be wasting your money.
I must agree that if there are this number of Brits leaving every day “which I don’t” but those who are leaving are doing so for other reasons. Of those people I know of who have left recently the main reasons being they can’t get work, can’t make a reasonable living here, one of the partners can’t settle or worries on Spanish taxation. I expect many retired people are leaving because of the current Spanish taxing regulations of people living here and I would guess the mounting bureaucracy along with other issues. Spain isn’t and hasn’t been doing itself any favours in relation to helping it’s economy and one of those negative sides is it is loosing retired British residents… nothing to do with worries on a Brexit.
The point June has brought up probably doesn’t help investment here, although people are still buying properties I think there would be more property sales if it wasn’t for Spain’s apparent banana republic methods when it comes to rules, law, regulation and towards the people who have already invested in the country, but then many of us who live here already know how backward this country has become in the last 8 years.
Why don’t rent before buy?then after one year you can buy with security after you take one lawyer or gestor,who will see if the house you want dont have problems,specially if you want to buy in Andalucia.
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