IF YOU’RE planning to head abroad when you collect your pension and unsure where to set up home, we’d recommend you come to Spain – naturally. But you don’t need to listen to us; International Livingmagazine’s 2019 ‘Best Places to Retire’ Index has compiled data based upon the experiences of expats on all five continents with everything from the weather and food through to living costs, healthcare and level of bureaucracy, and has come to the conclusion that Spain is the second-best country in Europe to move to when you give up work, after Portugal.
And if you can’t decide between the two, you could always move to the provinces of Zamora or Salamanca (Castilla y León), the region of Extremadura or, if you prefer to be near a coast, the province of Huelva (Andalucía) or Pontevedra (Galicia), where you’ll be in Spain but right on the Portuguese border, so you can hop between countries.
That said, Spain is top choice if you want to avoid Atlantic winds, since more than half its coast is on the Mediterranean, which escapes the worst of the weather during travelling cold fronts due to its being enclosed.
International Living is a US-based magazine, so the winning countries in this year’s Index tend to be non-European as distance from home is a factor: Panamá comes out top, followed by Costa Rica, México and Ecuador, which may well be too far from the family for northern Europeans seeking a sunny retirement hotspot.
Malaysia, Colombia, Portugal, Perú and Thailand also come before Spain, but if it’s Europe you’re looking to move to, the Iberian peninsula countries are the best choices on the International Living list.
What’s so great about Spain, according to the USA?
Some of the reasons Spain comes second in Europe come as no surprise to most of our readers – such as the fact it is one of the continent’s top beach destinations for holidaymakers – and points out that in many coastal parts, especially on the tourist trail, communities of English-speaking expatriates can be found, meaning those who have not yet started learning Spanish will still be able to make friends before they are confident enough with the language to mix with locals. Outside of the mainstream holiday areas, the Index report warns that newcomers will need to learn Spanish before they make the move in order to cope.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com