Retirement Migration, The ‘Other Story’:Returning from Spain

Kelly Hall

Older British People in Spain

• International retirement migration to Spain; approx 100,000 British nationals receive state pension in Spain.

• ‘Older British people in Spain’ – not a clearly identifiable group:– Definitions of ‘old age’ (55+, state pension age?)– Move between UK and Spain– Under registration

Living the Dream....?

The Reality...!

Health and Social Care in Spain

• Free healthcare for British pensioners living in Spain.• Entitled to same level of care as Spanish people.• Hospital care in Spain is very good.But....• Little aftercare on leaving hospital.• Limited social care – few residential homes.• Prescription charges recently introduced.Implications...• Older people returning to the UK following health

problems/crisis.

My Research

• Narrative in-depth interviews used to explore the lived experiences of vulnerable, older British people in Spain (2007).

• Recruited through Age Concern España in Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Mallorca.

• 20 ‘vulnerable’ households interviewed.• All lived in Spain for at least 9 months of the year.• 7 were returning to the UK.

Ongoing Research• Charles Betty - PhD on return migration from Spain to the UK

(year 1).

• Research on:– Triggers prompting return – Experiences of returning– Help and support for returnees

• Qualitative study with possibility to ‘track’ returnees.

• Lack of research to date on ‘returnees’.

Returning for Care

• Return following a decline in health or health crisis.

• Lack of after care when leaving hospital.• Lack of suitable care homes in Spain. • Only available to those with financial

resources to pay.

Harry (86, Widowed)

• Lives in a Spanish nursing home but speaks no Spanish:

“I had my breakfast…I hate the food here, it’s terrible I just do not like it...I hate it here.”

“I wish I had been in a nursing home in England. It would be better than this. I could speak the language, I would have someone to talk to. I have nobody to talk to here, I talk to myself.” (Harry, 86, Widowed)

Returning for Support

• No family in Spain – need informal care and support.

• Isolation and loneliness– Following death of partner– Friends die or return to the UK– Physical isolation from rural location (away from

support/health services)• Language and cultural barriers (limits access to and

use of support services).• Nostalgia, boredom and apathy.

Returning for Financial Help

• No longer cheaper to live in Spain.• Higher living costs – food, utility bills, community fees,

prescription charges.• Exchange rate fluctuations (1.5 to 1.0 euro/£).• Many living on basic state pension with few savings.• Return to access welfare support - pension credit,

housing support.

• ...But weak Spanish housing market – can’t sell house.

Elsa, 78, Widowed

“I wouldn’t be able to afford to go back [to the UK]. And certainly not into where I want to go because they are very, very expensive, very expensive, so I am afraid I will have to spend my last years here”.

Concluding Comments• Increasing numbers of older British people returning from

Spain.• Move of ‘choice’ – pre-planned.• Move of ‘necessity’ – no plan. Occurs when can no longer

live independently and no support systems in place in Spain.

BUT...• No immediate access to care and financial support.• Habitual residency test.• Very physically, emotionally and financially traumatic.

References• ACKERS, L., and DWYER P., 2002. Senior citizenship? Retirement, migration and welfare in the European

Union. Bristol: The Policy Press. • AGE CONCERN, 2007. When the sun sets on retirement abroad. Age Concern Conference, London, 17 May

2007. • COLDRON, K., and ACKERS, L., 2009. European citizenship, individual agency and the challenge to social

welfare systems: a case study of retirement migration in the European Union. Policy and Politics, 37(4), 573-589.

• DIRECTGOV, 2013. Claiming benefits if you live, move or travel abroad [online]. Available at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/Introductiontofinancialsupport/DG_073387

• HARDILL, I., SPRADBERRY, J., ARNOLD-BOAKES, J. and MARRUGAT, L. M. 2005. Severe health and social care issues among British migrants who retire to Spain, Ageing and Society, 25: 769-783.

• KING, R., WARNES, T., and WILLIAMS, A., 2000. Sunset lives: British retirement migration to the Mediterranean. Oxford: Berg.

• O'REILLY, K., 2000. The British on the Costa del Sol: Transnational identities and local communities. London: Routledge.

• SRISKANDARAJAH, D., and DREW, C., 2006. Brits abroad: mapping the scale and nature of British emigration. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.

• WARNES, A.M., and WILLIAMS, A., 2006. Older migrants in Europe: A new focus for migration studies. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32 (8), 1257-1281.

• All pictures from Google images.