Spain Emigration guide

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Editor’s introduction

It was the rise of the package holiday in the late 1960s and 1970s that first brought Spain to widespread British attention.

Hard though it may be to believe in this era of low-cost flights and widespread global mobility, by the end of the 1950s only 1% of Brits had ever travelled abroad on holiday. During the 1960s, cheaper air-fares along with post-war prosperity combined to make the realisation of a foreign holiday increasingly possible for the masses, and by the mid-1970s package holidays were booming.

Spain proved to be a particular favourite for this first generation of overseas-bound holidaymakers. Not only did the country boast an intoxicating mixture of sun, sea and sand (and sangria), it was also cheap and fairly close to home. What’s more, the country was more than willing to welcome holidaymakers – not just Brits, but those from all over Europe.

Having been an economic backwater until the 1950s, it was the rise of tourism that really began to kick-start Spain’s economy in the 1960s and ‘70s. By the beginning of the 1990s it boasted one of Europe’s most robust economies.

In time, as more and more Brits visited the country and fell in love with the Spanish lifestyle, many decided that they wanted to enjoy Spain’s charms on a more frequent basis. Today, over half a million Brits own a second home in Spain while more than one million Brits live there permanently. In fact, Spain is home to one of the largest British populations outside of the UK, with some areas in the long-term popular tourist destinations, think the Costa del Sol, more closely resembling British enclaves abroad than Spanish towns and cities.

However, whereas once the majority of British expats would have settled solely in one of the popular holiday hotspots – Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, etc– today Brits can be found settled throughout the country. If there’s an airport offering low-cost flights from the UK in the region, you can be sure that British expats and homeowners will be somewhere nearby.

The majority of expats living in the country do so for lifestyle purposes. Given the recent precarious state of the country’s economy following the global financial crisis of the late noughties, it is hardly likely to be viewed by many as a country in which to seek your fortune. That said, as of the beginning of 2016, the economic picture in the country is improving, led by a recovery of the much beleaguered property market (of which you can read more of later in this guide).

There is little doubt that Spain has long been a favoured destination amongst British holidaymakers, second home buyers and expats. And in spite of the travails of the last few years, it appears that the attraction Spain holds for many Brits is unlikely to wane any time in the near future.

Viva Espana!

David Fuller
Editor

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