By the time I’d heard the third rendition of Kenny Rogers’ “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town” I was seriously beginning to doubt the wisdom of attending the Friday night karaoke special.
But as I returned from the bar with my pint of lager and glass of chilled white wine (3.60 Euros), and sat down on the outside terrace (82 Degrees, 11pm) I was struck by the appropriateness of the next singer, who was making a passable effort of Jim Reeves “Welcome to My World”.
Because I was, clearly, in another world.
Around me were packed maybe 60 or 70 happy, relaxed souls – average age somewhere north of 60 – mostly wearing flip-flops, shorts and T-shirts.
Welcome to the world of ex-pat Spain.
There has been much in the British press of late – backed up by some “documentaries”
This coverage has tended to concentrate on those caught in the perfect storm – a collapsing Spanish property market where builders have gone bust and walked away leaving developments half finished, plus global economic crisis meaning their income from savings has dropped, plus the strength of the Euro against British pensions paid into the bank in Pounds.
But don’t believe all you read. While there are undoubtedly many people caught in a financial trap and depressingly contemplating a return to the UK, the reality is that there are many, many more Brits who have moved to live in Spain and who don’t regret their decision for one moment.
Estimates are that there are upwards of 750,000 Brits living full-time in Spain, our second most popular emigration destination after Australia – and that number is swelled by a further 250,000 who own a second home there and who visit on a regular basis.
In a straw poll of around 200 people aged between 50 – 85 earlier this month, I found that an astonishing 86% could name two or more people with Spanish property – and 10% either owned or had owned property there themselves.
I decided to spend a few weeks there this summer (in the interests of research) and get to the truth of the ex-pat lifestyle. And I found it, summed up, at the Friday night karaoke in The Pitch & Pint Bar, Orihuela, in the southern end of the Costa Blanca.
Here, in this one bar, was a microcosm of what it was all about. There were pensioners – couples and singles - who lived here full-time and just enjoyed the year-round good weather, the relaxed way of life and the low cost of living.
Some of them had families visiting from the UK – their children and their grand-children – themselves taking advantage of having a base to visit time and again.
There were those who had taken early retirement in the UK – or had been made redundant – and had come out to Spain with their families, bringing their skills with them – plumbers, electricians, builders, decorators – knowing that there will be a steady demand for their services among the Brits already there.
For it is a curious thing. While most people I spoke to said they had left the UK simply to enjoy living in the sun, many said they have left because of their perception of declining standards, rising crime and a feeling that things “aren’t the same any more.”
When pushed, some will admit their belief that this is due to Britain’s immigration policy – and yet, up and down the Costa Blanca, these same people have, in effect, created immigrant enclaves in which most will make no effort to learn the language, or eat the local food, and their only concession to integration will be to drive on the left hand side (although I even saw occasional examples of that being forgotten as people left supermarket car parks!)
Leafing through the numerous English language newspapers which have sprung up all along the coast, it is obvious that this huge colonising army of ex-pats has an effect on the local economy.
The news columns talk of several towns where British councillors have been elected to local authorities. Hospitals and care centres have been established to look after the artificially rising elderly populations. Age Concern has an active network of branches.
The advertising too, is tailored to the readership. Funeral planning, equity release, advice on tax planning, hearing aids, mobility scooters.
I was puzzled by one ad though for a “Scooter Libre” which promised “All you need to discover the world is a foldable Prominent mobility scooter. In no time you can transform this comfortable vehicle into an insignificant little pack”. Err…if you need a mobility scooter in the first place, how would you be able to fold it up and carry it?
But I was pleased to see that in the town of Torrevieja, there was some deference to local custom where at The Hampshire Hogg, “Authentic Olde English Pub”…you could actually order from the menu del noche.
One story I came across seemed to sum up the ex-pat attitude. Having had a second home in the small town of San Miguel de Salinas for 20 years, Peter Little has now retired to Spain. But over the years he had found it a struggle to understand the instructions on pool maintenance. So he decided to write down all of the problems he has had, and how he has overcome them, in plain English, to help fellow Brits out.
The resulting “Pedro’s Pool Care Book” is available for 5 Euros a copy and could very well be this summer’s best seller on the Costa Blanca.
It sure is a different world.
• Dick Lumsden is Managing Director of Senioragency, one of the few companies specialising in marketing and advertising to the 50+ group. If you have any views, or are over 50 and would like to take part in occasional consumer research, please contact him on dlumsden@senioragency.co.uk or sign up on his website at www.senioragency.co.uk
