Why the British Are Moving to Spain in Record Numbers

"The British are coming, the British are coming". Well, yes, they are but, this time, to Spain and not to America. The British are moving out of the UK in droves and are snapping up property in Spain. One in three Brits wants to retire to Spain. Spain is cheaper than the UK, has gorgeous weather all year round, Spaniards are friendly, the wine is great, and the Spanish government is very welcoming. My parents, who are British but live in America, have been toying with the idea of moving to Spain. If they did, I'd join them in a heartbeat because, for the British, Spain really is heaven on earth.

More than 550,000 Brits now own property in Spain. In some small Spanish villages, they make up a large percentage of the population. More than 25% of them are eligible to vote in Spain on national issues, and voting rights on local issues look to be soon to follow. Spain is becoming home to the English, but why?

The United Kingdom is one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Taxes are high, the crime rate is rising, immigration is a mess, the weather is terrible, and a lot of British feel the government stopped listening to them years ago. In a nutshell, the British, overall, are an incredibly unhappy people.

Then look at Spain. The weather is beautiful all year round and the Spanish beach resorts are some of the prettiest in the world. The way of life in Spain is more relaxed than in the UK. Taxes are lower, health care is excellent, the crime rate is lower than in Britain, and the Spanish still value family values. Britain now has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, the highest alcoholism rates, and parents spend less time with their kids than anywhere else in Europe.