‘At 26, I left dreary UK for Spain – and have no regrets’ ...Middle East

Phoebe Gilbert and her partner Matt Williams are some of the many expats who have the left the UK for Spain in order to experience a better quality of life.

The young couple left the UK just over a year ago to begin a new life in Madrid, say they have absolutely no regrets and described it as “the best decision we ever made.”

Phoebe, 26, who grew up in Kettering and lived in Sheffield after finishing university, said: “The UK was miserable and dreary and we wanted to get away and have a fresh start.

“We have no regrets and love living out here. Spain is now our home and this is where we want to settle down and eventually buy a home and have children.”

Phoebe told The i Paper that while she spent her early years in the UK, lot of her childhood was taken up with travelling and living in different countries.

“My mum passed away when I was nine so we decided to travel and move to different places and see what life had to offer elsewhere,” she explains. “We lived in places such as Dubai, Chile and Hong Kong.

“It was beautiful and amazing, but also challenging grieving while moving across the world. Then we came back to the UK.”

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Phoebe’s dad now lives in Helsinki, while her sister lives in Australia and her brother is in Dubai. Having experienced life in other countries herself, Phoebe was keen to move back out of the UK and try something new.

However, her partner Matt, 29, who is from Yorkshire, had never lived in another country and she was not sure he would want to leave the UK.

But then they began chatting about the possibility of a new adventure and began looking at moving to Spain.

“I just wanted to get out of the UK as it felt so miserable and there seemed to be continuous doom and gloom,” she says. “It was the cost of living and that terrible dreariness and it just felt suffocating.”

At the time, Phoebe was working in a remote job in human resources which she loved. She began looking into getting a digital nomad visa which meant she could live in Spain while carrying on working for her UK company.

Matt was working for an international company in a role covering the whole of Europe, so he got a transfer and the couple ended up living in Madrid after looking at different areas and falling in love with it.

They moved to Madrid in January last year and say it is the best thing they have ever done and say their quality of life has improved drastically.

“It is just so beautiful and clean out here and everything works and the trains are on time,” enthuses Phoebe. “In the UK, by the time Matt got home from work about 5:30pm, we’d think about what we were having for dinner and by then, it would be dark, wet and cold.

“But in Spain, when Matt comes home, the rest of the day is ours and we can go to rooftop bars or beautiful parks. The sunshine and blue skies makes life so much better and we have found that energy to get out there and enjoy life again.”

Life is a lot cheaper in Madrid, even though it is the capital, says Phoebe. They are renting out their home in the UK and renting a one bedroom apartment in Madrid.

“Shopping, food and going out for dinner and drinks is cheaper out here than the UK,” she says. “A glass of Prosecco here is about two Euros and a pint can be two to three Euros.

“A nice meal out in the UK which would have cost us around £100 is about 60 Euros here. When it comes to shopping, food is a lot cheaper than the UK.

“Travel is incredibly cheap and it is so nice to get on a train and it is actually there and then leaves on time. We can get a train from Madrid down to the south in Malaga for about 30 Euros.”

Phoebe says that some people might be put off moving to Spain because of the 24 per cent tax rate but you see it being put into public services.

“In the UK, it feels like costs keep going up, but you don’t see the value,” she says. “The streets are mucky and the bins don’t get emptied. Here in Spain, the taxes are higher, but it is incredibly clean and there are lots of free things provided for people such as concerts, running events and parties in parks.”

Phoebe says the company she worked for was very supportive about her moving to Spain and she moved over using a digital nomad visa. This is for non-EU citizens who want to live and work remotely in the country.

“Essentially, because of Brexit, we’re not allowed to come out here to live in the same way people used to,” she explains. “But if you can prove you work for a company outside of Spain or freelance for more than a year and earn over £23,000 a year, you can apply for a digital nomad visa to work remotely here.

“It works in Spain’s favour as I worked for an English company and they paid me and my money was going back into Spain.

“My company was brilliant and was open to me doing this. The double taxation agreement meant I paid some tax to Spain and some to the UK and they worked it out and balanced it out.”

After going through the digital nomad visa process herself, Phoebe wanted to help others make the move to Spain without feeling overwhelmed by it or confused by conflicting information.

She has now left her UK remote job and is working freelance and created a guide The Digital Nomads to simplify the British digital nomad process and help people move to Spain. She has also set up her own communications and consulting company.

“Having made the move myself while keeping my remote job and enjoying the beautiful Spanish sunshine, I want to help others to do the same without feeling overwhelmed by the process.

“I’ve created a step-by-step guide which I wish I could have had right at the beginning rather than battling with so much inconsistent information.

“We love it out here so much, we want other people to be able to do the same. Of course, it is terrifying as you are moving somewhere new and upping your whole life and leaving friends and family.

“But for us, it has been wonderful and we have no regrets as we are now living fully every day and having a great quality of life.

“We adore the Spanish culture and way of life. In the UK people can be shut off with their emotions, but here, there always seems to be an atmosphere of openness, music, dancing and celebration.”

Phoebe says she suffered with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in the UK, but in Spain, life no longer seems grey or gloomy. “Everyone is always determined to stay outside, as long as it’s not raining and we enjoy so much more of the outdoors.”

Phoebe believes more and more young people are losing faith and becoming disillusioned by the UK and seeking new pastures.

“There is a lot of doom and gloom and lack of trust in the UK,” she says. “Young people feel they have been let down by the Government and there’s a sense where people don’t see an end to it.

“There’s more homeless in the street, conflicts with the NHS, protests and more crime. Young people are realising there is more out there and that they don’t have to stay in the UK if it is making them miserable.

“When I first moved back to the UK, there was this sense that it was the best place to be. But I think people have now realised the UK has stopped moving with the times and it feels like we are going backwards in many ways.

“In contrast, Spain seems to be growing and learning. Don’t get me wrong, it has its issues. But there is a sense of openness and a willingness to grow with the times and we are definitely much happier here.”

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