Perception is a strange thing. Often when chatting to friends in the UK and Ireland I ask why they don’t consider moving to Spain. They often reply: ‘I will if I ever win the lottery.’
Heck! I would need to win the lottery to afford to live there and the lifestyle / weather wouldn’t be anywhere near as good. I rent here, which at half what I would pay there is another big saving. My experience is Spain being far more affordable and on a modest income essentially so. I have often heard retirees saying truthfully, they can't afford to return.
I can well understand their staying if their situation leaves them little choice. But I have three friends whose circumstances would transform their lives for the better if they were to sell or rent their northern European property and use the proceeds to move here. A friend who did so rents a nice place here for half the rent she takes for her Gothenburg apartment; the rest is pocket money. In effect her tenant is paying for her life in Spain.
But no; others they are still waiting until they win the lottery. Do they think the estimated million Brits and Irish already here, most happily so, are lottery winners?