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The Cost of the Sol?

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Many Britons retiring to areas of southern Europe are finding better local health care and higher quality of life than at home, according to a recent ESRC funded study headed by Russell King (EURO). The study, International Retirement Migration: a new welfare agenda in southern Europe, highlights changing trends in European migration and how some southern European countries perceive retired people as the source of economic gain.

The study found that of the 1,000 retired expatriates interviewed in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta, most said they felt better for the move and were satisfied with the standard of local health and community services. According to the study, which was carried out in the Sussex European Institute, along with colleagues from the University of Exeter and the University of Sheffield, "They feel better off in general. The climate alone in most cases, alleviates the illnesses that elderly people suffer from, such as arthritis and bronchial problems." Some retired people even made the move in accordance with their doctor's orders.

"The surprising pattern was that the majority of people maintained they would stay put even if a spouse died, or if their health deteriorated," said Russell. This, he says, is due to the positive new lifestyles they have found abroad; they have forged new social contacts and been reassured by better local community care, some of which is provided by the expats themselves on a voluntary basis. However, this also reflects on inadequate facilities in the UK, and a reluctance among family members to care for them if they were to return.

Many local municipalities see these pensioners as a source of economic benefit to the community, creating jobs and providing an additional flow of money into these regions. To encourage the retired to stay put, many municipalities have created local facilities geared specifically towards them. For example in some areas Foreigner's Offices have been established which act as types of expats' citizens' advice bureaux. Also a new hospital near Marbella has been built with foreigners specifically in mind, offering services such as bilingual medical staff.

In areas such as Torremolinas and Mijas, it was found that the retired tended to live in fairly concentrated estates creating a strong sense of community. However, these are inward-looking enclave communities with little integration with surrounding Spanish society. By contrast, retired people in Malta and Tuscany were more tuned in to the local surroundings.

According to Russell, although the numbers of retired people in some of these areas appear to have peaked, these numbers are likely to start rising again in the future. With growing European integration, and with attempts to harmonise social welfare entitlements across Europe, inter-European migration is likely to become more commonplace. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that, around the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean, a new multicultural Europe of the elderly is being created. As an integrated Europe becomes a `single country' as far as migration for EU citizens is concerned, the `snowbird' and `retirement to the sun' migrations that are so commonplace in the USA could become well established here.

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Friday February 28th 1997