HEALTHPLAN MAGAZINE

As the cost of living continues to soar in the UK and across the whole of Europe, many are choosing to flee to Spain to escape the financial strain.

Energy bills in the UK have been exceptionally bad, with the price cap poised to reach £2,500 this winter. In fact, many charities are warning that millions of households will fall into fuel poverty as energy bills gobble up a huge portion of their income.

Spain, like the rest of Europe, has also seen energy bills rise in the last year, but its warmer weather means that households use less gas to heat their homes, unlike those in Britain and other colder European countries.

The sunny province of Alicante in particular has become a magnet for European travellers who are looking to escape the rising energy prices in their own homeland.

Situated on the eastern region of the Costa Blanca, which is well known for its milder winters and 200 km long coastline, some half a million people from 98 different countries have relocated there in recent years.

According to EuroNews, an increasing volume of people from, not only the UK but from Belgium and Germany as well are flocking to Spain, drawn by the milder, warmer climate.

Anne Dingenen, a restaurant owner in Calpe said "I think that there is a better life quality here. 65 percent of my workers are Belgians, but I also have English people, Spanish, French as well as Germans. I have all of them, yes."

Whilst, Advisor to the Calpe City Council, Hilde Backhaert said "There is no need for heating here. And people save money by coming here and not having to pay for gas or electricity, and now with the rise in prices I imagine that many more people will want to emigrate."

Calpe, set in the province of Alicante, is home to Spain's largest Belgian community; they, according to Annie Gaudens, who is president of the Belgian Friend’s Association, enjoy a better quality of life here compared to back home.

"It is not possible for a pensioner to go to a restaurant every day in Belgium, but here it is! Here we enjoy life," she says.

“My daughter calls me and tells me, mum, I have paid €250 in bills for one month, and I say, well, I paid €28. Because it's sunny here​".

The cost of energy in Spain has doubled since February and inflation now exceeds 10 per cent.

However, in the eastern and southern coastal areas, winter temperatures rarely drop below the high teens, so the use of central heating is not necessary to keep warm.

The Costa del Sol Tourist Board in Spain has been urging Brits to leave the UK for the winter months, with officials saying that British tourists could escape the energy crisis in Spain.

Francisco Salado, president of the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, said the region was trying to attract ‘energy nomads’.

Salado stresses that tourists to the sunny province of Malaga would rarely need to use any heating.

He said, “They will be better off spending the winter with us,” adding that many governments around Europe were actively encouraging their citizens to spend the winter in warmer countries such as Spain.

Sources

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1671913/energy-crisis-uk-facing-exodus-britons-migrate-spain-beat-gas-bills
https://www.euronews.com/2022/09/18/migration-some-europeans-move-to-spain-in-order-to-escape-huge-energy-bills