Around half a million people leave the UK to live abroad each year. A survey by the British Council showed 72 per cent of 18- to 30-year-olds would consider living and working overseas, with cold weather, the high cost of living, extortionate childcare, a lack of work-life balance and even poor romantic prospects among their motivations for leaving the country. The i Paper’s Expat Files follows Brits who have taken the leap and settled elsewhere, detailing the ups and downs of their journeys.
As locals in Spain take to the streets to protest against mass tourism, Roxanne Hughes, a 72-year-old former business manager, is having a hard time selling her holiday home in Andalusia. She tells Silvia Marchetti how trips to her property in the “pueblo blanco” (white village) of Ronda are now a burden.
I never thought one day I’d regret buying a holiday home in gorgeous Andalusia, where 20 years ago, on my first trip there, I fell in love with the traditional white-washed “pueblos blancos”.
Ronda was so peaceful and authentic then. When I retired five years ago, I bought a two-bedroom house for €300,000 (£255,000) with dreamy, panoramic terrace views overlooking the rooftops and houses clinging to the cliffs.
