Why should anyone make the decision to sell up totally in the United Kingdom and move lock, stock and barrel (and in our case dog as well!) to the most southerly part of Spain?

OUR DECISION

In our case the decision was very simple. My partner, Julian and I have shared our lives for 30 years. Suddenly we found ourselves in a new, and I suppose unexpected situation and we had to take practical decisions which would have long-term effects.

Julian had worked for 26 years for a major retail chain in the UK but at the age of 55 he was offered redundancy. On arrival at work one morning he was invited into his manager’s office and was made an offer he couldn’t refuse: a lump sum payment, together with activation of his index linked, final salary pension scheme, albeit at a reduced rate. Having reached the stage where working for this particular company was no longer fun, he quickly signed on the dotted line. In retrospect he might have been a bit hasty since he didn’t consult an employment lawyer first, but these things happen.

Within a few days he found work in another department store as an assistant with no responsibilities other than serving the public, and within a further few months he was offered a job with a major airline as a customer services agent. This was a job which he absolutely loved. For Julian, life was good. He had proved that there is life after 50.

I had reached a senior position in another industry and had worked for the same company for around 12 years. The work was interesting and rewarding but the pressures of big business at the end of the 20th century led to increasing stress. At one time stress was probably the factor which had helped me to do a better job but now I started having panic attacks and all the other unhealthy symptoms of stress. This resulted in a two-month period of sickness leave for the first time in my career. Towards the end of this period senior colleagues visited me at home and basically offered me a redundancy package. Was this a way to remove an expensive member of staff and replace me with someone who would cost the company a lot less money? Is our story so far familiar?

Like Julian, perhaps I should have contacted an employment lawyer but I did not. At this stage my intention was to continue working in the same industry and I did not want to make enemies. I accepted the package. It offered me the opportunity to become self-employed - something I’d always wanted to do. I set myself up as an independent consultant within the same industry and initially most of my previous contacts made very sympathetic noises about the amount of work they would be able to offer me. Things were looking good.

Unfortunately the anticipated level of work did not materialise as quickly as I would have liked. When you leave a company it is amazing how quickly former contacts forget about you. The real problem with being self-employed as a one man band is that when you are marketing yourself you are not earning and when you are working you are not lining up the next client.

Julian and I began to realise that we had arrived at a crossroads in our life.

At this time we lived in southwest London where property prices and living costs were very high. Unexpectedly our existing careers had come to an end -an experience which unfortunately happens to many people today since jobs are no longer for life. Julian was working for the airline but as he was now 60 and I was 55 we had to think long and hard about our future. Should we try to stay in the rat race or should we consider a move to a place where life would be less stressful?

Julian had an index-linked pension. Being over 50, I could activate my pension and take a lump sum payment which would clear some liabilities such as credit card debts. Both of us had enjoyed successful careers and we had been the classic case of double income no kids -DINKYs. We had enjoyed three or four holidays a year. Whenever any new bit of technology appeared on the market we were among the first to own it. As a result our various credit cards had taken a battering over the years and we had quite high debts on them. These debts were the first things that had to go. We still had a mortgage, although nothing like the amount that a lot of my younger former colleagues had but, because we had lived in our house for 16 years there was a lot of equity in our property. If we decided to sell we should have enough money to clear all our debts and buy elsewhere without even thinking about a mortgage. As a result we would need far less income to live comfortably.

The first consideration about any move after living in the same area for so long was that we would be leaving friends whom we had known for 25 years. We decided, however, that true friends would still keep in touch no matter where we decided to move to and that anyone who did not keep in touch was probably not a very good friend in the first place. We were also fortunate not to have to think about family commitments.

Having decided that we needed to move the next decision was to where. The English countryside was a possibility. There are many very pretty villages in Britain, but the problem was the price of UK property. Pretty villages in the south of England, where the climate should be relatively pleasant, can be very expensive and the further north we might move, the less predictable the weather, particularly in winter. What would we actually achieve if we moved within the UK? The same high level of council taxes. The same weather. High property prices in desirable areas. In other words, overall high costs! A major upheaval in our lives with perhaps very few benefits.

So we began to think that perhaps we should move abroad - but where? In leaving Britain the world was almost our oyster, although if we wanted to move permanently we really had to stay within the EU.

First of all, we thought about France.

The climate in the north is very like that in the south of the UK and possibly even colder in winter so there would be no great advantage to northern France apart from lifestyle. The south can be very expensive in the well known areas, although there are still pockets of affordable property to be found. The south west was a possibility, but at this stage in our thinking we discounted France since the actual cost of living in many parts of France is not too different to that in Britain. The only real advantage we could see to France was the fact that I speak fluent French.

Then we thought about Italy.

A wonderful climate, but the north is generally an expensive area in which to buy property and there would probably be very few desirable properties that we could afford to buy. Tuscany and the surrounding regions tend to attract the richer expatriate. The south is much cheaper but more remote. On the plus side Italy has a wonderful laid-back lifestyle and it is a very beautiful country with amazing culture and history. However, it is probably out of the reach of anyone other than the very rich. Plus there could be a language problem in the areas we could afford since neither of us speaks any Italian.

We then considered Greece.

A beautiful, charismatic country with a wonderful climate and a fascinating history but possibly we might experience problems in communication unless we learned to speak (and read) Greek. We might not even be able to read the road signs in the more remote areas. In addition, in the coastal areas where English is more widely spoken we would have to face the annual invasion of the package holidaymakers from northern Europe. That possibility did not appeal to us in the slightest.

And how about islands such as Cyprus or Malta?

Again, these have wonderful climates and English is widely spoken so communication would not be a problem. We were warned, however, that living on an island can be difficult. You are cut off from the mainland, and communication and travel can be more difficult. Your life can become very insular. Most people we know who have sampled island life eventually returned to mainland living.

The other Mediterranean islands of Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and the Balearics were rejected for the same reasons.

Anywhere else in the world might be considered but could pose problems. We might be restricted by visa regulations to a six months per year residency permit which would be no use if we wanted to live there all year round.

Therefore for us the choice was becoming very simple. Spain, or in our case the Costa del Sol appeared to have more positives than negatives to recommend it. The Costa Blanca could have been equally attractive because of its climate. Further north on the Mediterranean coast the summers are hot but winters can be more unsettled. We did not want to have too much rain - there is enough of that in Britain.

For us, it helped that we already had friends who had made the decision to move to the Costa del Sol. We could benefit from their first-hand experiences and encouragement. In fact, since arriving here, we have met very few expatriates who would even consider going back home. Spain is now home to many people from the UK and other northern European countries. It is estimated that there are some 750,000 UK citizens living in Spain and that accounts for only those who have registered with the authorities. The real figure is probably much higher. Some have retired here. Some work from here. Some have taken jobs here, although to do that it would probably be beneficial to speak fluent Spanish. Some have bought holiday homes purely as an investment. Others have bought holiday homes with a view to using them as a permanent home in the future.

There is also the considerable benefit today that if you live within the EU, there are very few problems in moving to live in another EU country.

So, the Costa del Sol was our choice.

Initially (2001) we were surprised by the low cost of property compared to the southeast of England and the apparent overall low cost of living. We had been told that the cost of living was very low but I suppose we did not really believe it until we actually lived here. Doing our sums we realised that by cashing in our chips in London we could move to an area where our lifestyle should be better:

• No more rush hour commuting - packed trains, jammed motorways or congestion charging.
• Fewer traffic jams - although the coast road in the Costa del Sol can resemble the M25 on occasions but only in August.
• A more laid-back attitude to life.
• More sun and certainly less rain - blue drizzle rather than grey drizzle.
• Better quality of food. Fruit and vegetables are virtually all organically grown - you can actually buy fresh fruit and vegetables at the roadside direct from the grower. The price of organic food here is not twice as high as non-organic! The buyer does not get ripped off.
• A large expatriate community where, if you really must stay as British as possible, you can - although that would be to miss out on Spain and its rich culture and history.
• A large number of publications in English. It is easy to learn to speak a language but it can be more difficult to read it. You can even buy all the UK tabloids and broadsheets. They are now printed in Spain on a daily basis and appear on the news-stand at the same time as the local papers.

All this, plus the marvel of digital satellite television, which means you can still enjoy the benefits above without missing your favourite TV programmes in the UK!

Having lived in Spain for over two years we made one other important discovery which really affects your life. In June daylight hours are 7 am to 10 pm while in December it is daylight from 8.30 am until almost 7 pm. No more putting the lights on at four in the afternoon and virtually no chance of Seasonal Affective Disorder - no more SAD!

Now I’ve explained how we made our decision here are a few practical points that might help you make yours.

I hope this section has answered some of your questions and given you further food for thought. For us we knew after the first year that the decision to move from the UK was the right one.