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Date Published: 20/09/2022

ARCHIVED - Europeans flock to Spain to avoid soaring energy bills

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The Costa Blanca in southern Spain has become home to half a million new expats in recent years

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Europeans flock to Spain to avoid soaring energy bills

Nowhere in Europe is escaping the never-ending increase in energy bills, with the war in Ukraine spiking costs even further as the threat of a winter supply shortage looms large. Spain hasn’t avoided the price war, and inflation has never been higher, but the peninsula is still viewed as one of the best value-for-money places to live, and people from all over Europe make the move and begin their new life in the sun here every year.

There are countless world-renowned hotspots in Spain where newly-arrived expats would be happy to hang their hat, but the Costa Blanca has always been a firm favourite. In fact, over the last few years almost half a million people from 98 countries around the globe relocated to towns surrounding these 200 kilometres of pristine coastline.

And a recent report from data analysis company Statistica might just give others the push they need to high tail it to sunny Spain. According to the platform, the average adult living in the UK would have to earn 28,000 euros (around 24,545 pounds) to meet the acceptable standard of living set out in 2022 and as bills continue to increase, this figure is likely to keep growing.

With temperatures usually remaining in the high teens throughout the winter, often topping 20ºC for a unique Christmas Day on the beach, the climate of the Costa Blanca ensures a cheaper cost of living, a crucial element which is drawing more and more Brits, Belgians and Germans in particular, according to Calpe restaurateur Anne Dineen.

"I think that there is a better life quality here. 65% of my workers are Belgians, but I also have English people, Spanish, French as well as Germans," she said.

"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 added.

Image: Ayuntamiento de Calpe

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