Spain Takes Third Place in Expat Quality of Life Survey

Spain Takes Third Place in Expat Quality of Life Survey

The weather, food and welcoming people of Spain,

help keep Spain as a top destination

The latest InterNations survey places Spain as the third best place in the world to live as an expat. The poll, which is conducted each year, surveyed 12,500 expats to rate 43 aspects of life in their new home on a scale of one to seven.

InterNations – the largest expat network in the world – take the data and calculate average scores for each country with it. They published their top 17 ranking last week, with Portugal taking top place. The country climbed up 13 places, scoring well in terms of climate and leisure. Second place went to Taiwan.

Spain reaching third place was an improvement on the fourth place it reached last year, with expats praising the Spanish climate, cultural attractions, leisure options, and ability to support high levels of personal happiness. The other countries in the top five were Singapore in fourth place and the Czech Republic in fifth. The other noticeable rankings were Germany in 10^th place, Canada coming in 13^th, and New Zealand coming in 15^th.

Spain always performs well in surveys like this, as it always scores well when it comes to health, happiness, and leisure. The country would score poorly on economic and employment factors for a while though. As the economy of Spain continues to improve, the concerns about the job market and pay are much weaker than they used to be.

It goes without saying that the climate, cuisine, beaches, landscape, safety, security, and overall accessibility of Spain – the blend that makes it such a hot spot for tourism – forms the foundation for a number of successful and happy expats.

Study Finds Average Expat Takes Six Months to Settle In

Study Finds Average Expat Takes Six Months to Settle In

Once settled in to the Spanish life style its hard to leave.

We’d like to start by offering a hearty congratulations to all the people out there that have recently made the choice to leave their home country behind and become an expat. It’s certainly a daunting move, but it could end up being the best decision you’ve ever made.

You shouldn’t worry if you’re having trouble fitting in and settling as soon as you arrive. Everyone goes through the expat life differently, but the process generally follows the same pattern; there’s the initial honeymoon period, then some time spent in doubt and frustration, and then a long period of amusement and bemusement as you take in the differences in culture, before you finally settle in for the long haul; putting down some permanent roots and making new friends.

A recent survey from HSBC known as the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey has assessed that this process takes six months on average.

HSBC polled thousands of expats and found that two-thirds of them took six months to feel like they had truly settled into their new country.

Just under half of expat parents with their children felt it took this long for their children to settle in, seemingly proving the adage that younger people adapt to new surroundings faster.

In the long term, 60% of parents said they feel their children had a higher quality of life abroad. Only 13% of parents feel that expat life was inferior to home life for their children.

Spain Comes in 4th in Survey Assessing Expat Quality of Life

Spain Comes in 4^th in Survey Assessing Expat Quality of Life

Spain is considered to be one of the best places there is to be an expat, at least according to the latest survey by expat network InterNations. The survey included over 14,000 expats from around the world and included questions about living life abroad.

Its confirmed that Spain is one of the very best

countries to live in the world. 

Over 174 nationalities spread across 191 countries were asked how they would rate the quality of life where they live on several key factors such as safety and security, leisure options, health and wellbeing, and their own personal happiness.

When all of these metrics were considered, Spain came in fourth overall in the world. Spain performed well on several fronts; in particular the Ease of Settling in index, which ranks how welcome expats feel as soon as they arrive in Spain.

The friendliness of Spain alleviates many traditional fears expats have, and is complemented by the affordability, safety, climate, and infrastructure of the country that makes it easy to get around and get back home for visits.

There were only three countries in the whole world that ranked ahead of Spain. Japan came in third place, thanks to the peaceful lifestyle and great medical care. Austria came in second because of the clean air, good infrastructure, and great job prospects of the country. First place went to Taiwan; where expats can expect high levels of safety, plenty of choices for leisure, and high paying jobs.

Spain still topped the polls for Europe and is the destination of choice for many expats in the UK and wider European area thanks to the location, weather, and variety of places to live.

After factoring in the affordability and cost of living of the country, even expats who aren’t looking to get a high paying job can find comfort and a good life in Spain.

Five Ways to be a Happy Expat

Five Ways to be a Happy Expat

Spain is one of the most open societies and more

and more Expats are moving to Spain

It can be quite peculiar to live life as an expat in Spain. You have the opportunity to be somewhat of an ambassador, while also the anxiety that comes with living somewhere brand new and different.

Unfortunately there is no single path to success for expats. Putting in more than you take out, keeping your mind open, and leaving the people you meet and the places you stay richer is certainly the ideal but it’s just that; an ideal. The reality of expat life is often very different. So why not focus on being a happy expat rather than being a perfect expat?

Here are five ways to be happy expat and ensure that no matter how long you live overseas, you’re happy for having done it.

Don’t be so Hard on Yourself

You’ve probably already met the perfect expat; they are able to move between English and Spanish at the drop of a hat; have a wide range of friends from the world over; they get involved with the local community but still raise their family and, to top it off, they have a brilliant car. There’s someone like this in every expat community. There’s someone who seems to have made it without any effort at all.

It’s incredibly daunting for you to be around these people, but you should go easy on yourself. You can’t imagine the ways that life overseas will test you. Some people are able to thrive and really prosper in the brand new environment and some people have a harder time of it. Never forget that you are who you are; if you were introverted back home you will likely still be one when living abroad. That’s just who you are and you need to remember that.

Be Open Minded and Willing to Leave The Comfort Zone, But Only if it Suits You

With that said there’s still no better chance to broaden your horizons and try something new than when you move overseas. It’s obvious you’ll meet a new language, see new faces, and try new foods; these are unescapable facts of expat life. There’s plenty of other new things to try though; the new surroundings you live in have the potential to get new hobbies, learn new skills, or chase that dream you gave up on long ago because there’s no one to around to judge the “new you”.

It’s truly liberating. One of the best things about living in a new country is that you are able to try all of these new things and figure out just what you want to get out of your new life and how you want to live it.

Be Magnanimous and Avoid Taking Sides

When you become an expat you have the country you were born and the country you live. It’s likely that you’ll come to see what’s good and bad about both countries with a kind of clarity you never had before. If you want to be a truly happy expat you need to avoid taking sides. Don’t complain about your old home because you will get home-sick eventually. You should also take off the rose-coloured glasses and avoid thinking that life back home wasn’t all that bad. Remember that you moved away for a reason; remember that reason.

With this said the country you move to is going to delight and annoy you in equal amounts. So for the sake of your sanity, and the sanity of those around you, that there’s nowhere that is truly perfect and no one wants to hear you boast or complain about how your new life is going.

Keep Things Balanced While Still Enjoying Variety

When you move to a new country you will be tempted to avoid expats that come from the same country as you. This urge can be understandable but sometimes it’s just irrational. You don’t want to find yourself stuck with an expat who sees you as fresh meat that they can invite along to anything and everything, but at the same time there’s not much better than sharing an evening with someone who have the same cultural background as you.

It’s important to find a balance. You shouldn’t avoid the British pub; just don’t spend every evening there. Take a trip to the tapas bar and the bodega. Make some local friends and find time to visit the establishments and enclaves of other nationalities. Having such a diverse range of influences and opinions is part of the fun of being an expat so allow yourself to embrace it.

Head Back Home When you Want; Flights are Pretty Cheap

Brits living in Spain have it pretty easy when it comes to flying home regularly. It’s easy and cheap to fly from Malaga airport to the UK all through the year. Make use of these cheap flights. Keeping up your connection to the mother land will ensure you enjoy both destinations as much as possible. Regular visits home stop you from getting too homesick and it can be liberating to leave that expat bubble you’ve been living in every so often.

Latest Survey puts Spain at Top of the Chart for Expat Healthcare and Social Life

Latest Survey puts Spain at Top of the Chart for Expat Healthcare and Social Life

If you’re an expat looking to find safety, healthcare, culture, and build a strong family and social life then it doesn’t get much better than Spain.

Spain and the Costa del Sol continue to draw

expats as its a great place to live

The latest Expat Explorer Survey from HSBC was published this week and it showed that Spain is considered to be one of the best destinations in the world for expats; at least as far as having an active social life and good quality healthcare goes.

The survey was taken by 21,950 people across 39 countries. According to these participants Spain did well in terms of property value and choice as it ranked in third place overall. Spain also did well in quality of life (coming second) and culture (coming third).

Even though Spain only came in 13^th overall the country still did well in the metrics that families and expats are more interested in; including safety, integration, making friends, and provide for the family. Spain did particularly well in how easy children find it to settle in to their new lives abroad.

This was the eighth annual HSBC Expat Explorer Survey and this year things seemed to favour the financial metrics. Singapore came in first because of their ability to provide expats with well-paying jobs. They also performed well in terms of safety and their scores in culture and integration improved over recent years.

Spain found itself let down thanks to the quality of schools and finance; ranking 26^th and 17^th respectively. It’s interesting that school quality was an issue given that many of the countries in the survey, such as Singapore, are known for doing everything they can to accommodate expats; so the quality of education would develop as a matter of this.

While there is a lot of choice on the Costa del Sol, many expats in Spain feel there are still some regions where there are very few British or international schools, which is why there is such a discrepancy. When it comes to finance many people are aware of the economic problems Spain has dealt with in recent years. Many are also aware of the recovery, which has really picked up steam this year.

The good news for expats is that Spain did above-average in the areas that will matter most to them. Spain is known for providing great healthcare, a welcoming culture that makes it easy to socialise and make friends, and overall a country filled with tolerant people that is easy to integrate into and has a low cost of living.

The areas that let Spain down were job security, entrepreneurship, wage growth and career progression. While these metrics may not be easily fixed, they are at least problems Spain can work on to improve.

The survey took the countries and broke each one into three different categories; Experience, economics and family. Spain may have come in 36^th out of 39 for Economics but it came in second for Experience and fourth for Family – presenting the largest divide between the categories seen with any nation.

The results send a clear message to the politicians of Spain; do something about the job market and the economy and you’ll build up the best country in the world to be an expat in.

To contrast the 13^th place of Spain, the UK came in 23^rd and France came in 29^th. In a disappointing and somewhat surprising move Italy came in 38^th; beating out only Brazil.

Whitehall Blocks Expat Voting Rights Change to Maintain 15-Year Rule

Whitehall Blocks Expat Voting Rights Change to Maintain 15-Year Rule.

Its a sad state of affairs that Britain continues to keep outdated laws 

Long-term British expats living in Spain and all over Europe who are hoping to be able to vote in British general elections will no doubt be disappointed by the decision Whitehall took to reject the proposed changes to the 15-Year Law. David Cameron promised to get rid of the controversial 15-Year Rule that said expats who had lived outside of the country for over 15 years could no longer vote in general elections. It seems like his promise has been overturned by the new government that replaced the former Prime Minister.

Whitehall ministers have said they feel that changing the law would be too complex and will instead be maintaining the status quo now that David Cameron, who pledged to change the rule as part of his 2015 election manifesto, is no longer in charge. The change was also intended to enable those expats to vote in the EU Referendum. With that in the rear-view mirror politicians see the rule as less of an issue now.

Cameron made the promise when he called out for long-term expats to vote for him and his Conservative Party during the last general election. The promise went on the backburner after Cameron secured his second term. Instead Cameron chose to make his promise of an EU Referendum a priority.

The irony of this choice is that if Cameron HAD changed the law before the Referendum then he could still very well be in power and the UK would likely still be part of the EU as those expats would most likely have voted, and voted in their droves, to stay in the EU.

The Daily Mail is reporting that the issue is once again being put on the shelf now that Cameron has gone and the UK is attempting to avoid the Brexit and it seems the wave of brits wanting to move to places like spain is even on the up!  Geoffrey Clinton-Brown, one of the campaigners who hoped to change the law, believes that civil servants dislike the idea of difficult changes. Whitehall say that one of the difficulties in changing the rules is that electoral registers are only kept for 15 years. As such it would become difficult to find out which constituency these long-term expats used to live in. Cliff-Brown believes that this just an excuse to stall the issue.

The U-turn is actual a contradiction of the Tory party line they’ve been touting for over two years. The former Party chairman Grant Shapps said that British citizens are Brits for life. They will always have the right to be protected by the military and travel on a British passport and that the Tory party believes it should also give them the lifelong right to vote.

The Daily Mail is also reporting that a former Foreign Office Minister has now admitted that making the change would be more complex than it was first thought it would be. This difficulty, combined with the lack of political will by the government, has left many expats unable to vote with no change in sight.

The Commons Leader David Lidington says that the matter is more complex than it appears. The change would mean having to create a new system of voter registration which is difficult because of the lack of voter registers from over 15 years ago. The government would need to find a way to allocate people to constituencies and then prove that they lived where they say they did.

Clifton-Brown is refusing to accept any of their excuses. He says that it shouldn’t be too difficult for people to provide some evidence that they used to I've where they say they did. There are many ways to do this including doctor’s notes, passport numbers, and National Insurance notes. He believes any of these can, and should, be used as proof of address.

One thing is for sure, Brits will still keep moving out of the UK to southern Europe regardless whether they can vote or not as the healthier lifestyle and the cost of living in places like spain coupled with the amazing 320 days of sunshine will always temp people away from the wet and dismal uk.

Irishwoman Awarded MBE for Campaigning for Expat Rights in Spain

Irishwoman Awarded MBE for Campaigning for Expat Rights in Spain

Maura Hillen, who has been campaigning since 2008 for the legalisation of illegal properties has been awarded in MBE in recognition of her services to the British community living and working in Spain.

Maura Hillen has worked tirelessly since 2008  for

property owners rights

Maura Hillen MBE is the head of the Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No! (AUAN) body and she has campaigned at the local, regional, and even national level for the rights of over 500 expats who purchased property in the Amanzora valley in Almeria in good faith.

These expats, most of whom were British, would later find out that the properties were built illegally and could be demolished by the Spanish authorities; something that would leave them without a home and without any money.

The AUAN group fought to have basic amenities, such as electricity and water, approved for the properties. Her appeals worked their way through the Spanish courts as she acted as a go between for information between the council and the homeowners.

The results of her campaigning where shown in 2015 when the government introduced a major piece of legislation urging Spanish judges to remember that the homeowners themselves are innocent and that they were conned into buying the homes without realising they were illegal.

This legislation means that if the authorities to decide to demolish the property the buyers will be compensated at least.

Simon Manley, the British ambassador to Spain, was pleased by the decision to award Hillen with an MBE. He spoke of how tirelessly Hillen has campaigned to resolve the property problems that were affecting thousands of British buyers. The thanked Her Majesty the Queen for approving the honour.

He also added that Hillen has guided AUAN to become a well run and respected organisation that is managing to provide expert legal advice and realistic solutions to the regional and national authorities in Spain.

Manley added that the success of AUAN is a great sign that the broken legal system that was failing to recognise the rights of the homeowners or compensate them could be changed for the better.

Hillen was delighted to receive the award. She accepted the award on behalf of every member of AUAN who campaigned alongside her, especially the committee members and the former presidents of AUAN.

Buying property in Spain can have its pitfalls however with stricter laws now in place and having the correct searches made by your lawyer the days of being duped into buying an illegal property are being minimised.

Brexit Could Leave British Expat Pensioners 50k Worse Off

Brexit Could Leave British Expat Pensioners 50k Worse Off

Brits retiring and moving to Spain and to other EU member states are able to claim the same incremental pension they would receive if they stayed in the UK. Things could look very different if the Brexit goes through.

Its looking more obvious that leaving the EU

will have consequences

The current pension agreement in the UK is a “triple-lock” agreement where British pensioners in the EU have their pensions rise with annual rates of inflation. Experts are warning that this could all change if the UK leaves the European Union.

The UK will hold a vote on if they will leave the EU on the 23^rd of June and, should they leave, they will have to strike up new agreements with countries that house British retirees.

The policy that gives British pensioners an incremental increase is an EU-wide policy. The policy says that pensions increase by either wage or price inflation, whichever is higher, with a minimum increase of 2.5%.

If the UK fails to secure an agreement like this with other countries such as Spain, then British expats will find themselves in the same situation that is found in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In these countries the state pension is frozen and stays at the rate it was when they left.

As a result a Brit moving to  Spain or an EU country after the Brexit could find themselves up to £50,000 over 20 years according to calculations by AJ Bell. A 65 year-old retiring today would receive £155.65 per week, but 20 years without a rise on that could easily mount up.

AJ Bell warned that a Brexit would cast the aspirations of people wanting to retire in Europe, or already retired in Europe, into doubt. Some have faith that the government will be able to protect British expats if the Brexit goes ahead, but it should be noted that the UK has yet to set up a deal like this with a non-EU country since 1982, mostly because of how much it would cost.

While people who are not expats themselves may see this as one of the many EU-led costs to taxpayers, there is no doubt that anyone who will benefit from this agreement should chose to vote remain so that their pension is protected.

Ross Altmann, the Minster for Pensions, said that it was important to clarify this matter and make it a part of negotiating the UK’s exit if the votes go that way.

If the UK does vote to leave the EU there will still be a two year time period where EU treaties still apply, so there is likely going to be a lot of political back and forth in that time. Shailesh Vara, the Parliamentary under-secretary of State for Justice said that the Conservative Party don’t have any plans to change the current policy wherein British pensioners abroad have their pension payments frozen.

She added that a Brexit would leave a lot of pensioners who have worked hard to secure their future and enjoy their retirement in the dark. With the current rules the UK and Europe enjoy what is called the “triple lock” system that ensures their state pension is protected.

While the deadline for registering to vote by post has passed it is still possible for expats who have lived abroad for less than 15 years to register a proxy who can vote on their behalf at the upcoming referendum.