Latest news with #emigration
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Italy grapples with mass exodus and foreign influx amid economic fears
ROME: The number of Italians leaving their country and foreigners moving in has soared to the highest in a decade, official data showed on Friday, fueling national concerns about brain drain, economic decline, and immigration. Italy has a right-wing government elected in 2022 on a mandate to curb migrant arrivals, but also has a shrinking population and growing labor shortages, highlighting the need to attract foreign workers. Meanwhile, the country's stagnant economy and low wages — salaries are below 1990 levels in inflation-adjusted terms — have been blamed for pushing many Italians to seek better fortunes abroad. Ukrainians made up the biggest national group among those who arrived in 2023-2024, followed by Albanians, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Romanians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Argentines, and Tunisians. Last year, 382,071 foreigners moved to Italy, up from 378,372 in 2023 and the highest since 2014, the statistics agency Istat said. In the same period, 155,732 Italians emigrated, up from 114,057 in 2023 and also the highest since 2014. The immigration figure beat the previous high for the last decade of 301,000 in 2017, and was well above that period's low of 191,766 from 2020 — the height of the COVID pandemic. The figure of almost 270,000 nationals emigrating in the two-year period from 2023 to 2024 was up around 40 percent compared to the previous two years. The two-year immigration figure for that period, around 760,000, was up 31 percent from 2021-2022. The figures are derived from town registry offices, so are unlikely to reflect undocumented migration. Ukrainians made up the biggest national group among those who arrived in 2023-2024, Istat said, followed by Albanians, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Romanians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Argentines, and Tunisians. As for the high number of emigrants, 'it is more than plausible' that a significant number were 'former immigrants' who moved abroad after acquiring Italian citizenship, Istat said. The agency also said Italy's poorer south was continuing to depopulate, noting that almost 1 percent of residents in Calabria, the region with the lowest per capita income, moved to central or northern areas during 2023-2024.
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Italy's immigration and emigration both soaring, stats agency says
ROME, June 20 (Reuters) - The numbers of Italians leaving their country and of foreigners moving in have soared to the highest in a decade, official data showed on Friday, fuelling national concerns about brain drain, economic decline and immigration. Italy has a right-wing government elected in 2022 on a mandate to curb migrant arrivals, but also has a shrinking population and growing labour shortages, highlighting the need to attract foreign workers. Meanwhile the country's stagnant economy and low wages - salaries are below 1990 levels in inflation-adjusted terms - have been blamed for pushing many Italians to seek better fortunes abroad. Last year 382,071 foreigners moved to Italy, up from 378,372 in 2023 and the highest since 2014, statistics agency Istat said. In the same period, 155,732 Italians emigrated, up from 114,057 in 2023 and also the highest since 2014. The immigration figure beat the previous high for the last decade of 301,000 in 2017, and was well above that period's low of 191,766 from 2020 - the height of the COVID pandemic. The figure of almost 270,000 nationals emigrating in the two-year period from 2023 to 2024 was up around 40% compared to the previous two years. The two-year immigration figure for that period, of around 760,000, was up 31% from 2021-2022. The figures are derived from town registry offices, so are unlikely to reflect undocumented migration. Ukrainians made up the biggest national group among those who arrived in 2023-2024, Istat said, followed by Albanians, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Romanians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Argentines and Tunisians. As for the high number of emigrants, "it is more than plausible" that a significant number were "former immigrants" who moved abroad after acquiring Italian citizenship, Istat said. The agency also said Italy's poorer south was continuing to depopulate, noting that almost 1% of residents in Calabria, the region with the lowest per capita income, moved to central or northern areas during 2023-2024.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Ukraine has a problem no one is talking about – young women are leaving in droves
In a classroom in western Ukraine, a group of teenagers are thinking about their futures. Seventeen-year-old Kira Yukhymenko had always planned to go to university in her home country, but in between sitting her final exams this month, she has been dreaming of leaving to study abroad. 'The war has helped us understand who we are,' she said during a discussion in an English lesson at her school, Lyceum 88, in Lviv. 'It has broadened our horizons and also made us more independent.' Since the war broke out and martial law was introduced, young men have been banned from leaving Ukraine after they turn 18, but young women like Ms Yukhymenko are free to leave. In three years of conflict, large numbers of them have chosen to do so, swapping war-torn Ukraine for European cities far from the threat of Vladimir Putin's drones and bombs. Few have returned, and more are leaving with every passing year. As well as being a brain drain – some of Ukraine's brightest and best are among those leaving the country – the emigration wave is also a demographic time bomb. Locked in a costly war of attrition against Russia, there are real concerns over who will rebuild the country once the war is over, if the nation's youth does not return. The group of 30 final year pupils, seated at desks in pairs, had chosen the topic for debate themselves: education and future career opportunities in Ukraine. Their teacher, Liudmila Makohin, said many were considering emigrating. 'The situation is getting worse every day due to the war making young people choose universities in Europe not Ukraine,' she told The Telegraph. Ms Makohin asked the group to raise their hands if they planned to leave Ukraine after completing their exams. Three girls reacted quickly, before several other students – boys and girls – laughed nervously and tentatively raised their arms. Sofia, a student in the front row wearing a cream jumper and gold, hooped earrings, said the longer the war goes on, the more people want to leave. 'When the war started people were very enthusiastic,' she began. 'But a lot of time has gone by and people are more depressed. They think there's a better life in another country.' English teacher Halyna Pidhrebelna agrees. Commenting on the discussion later in a small staff room over coffee, she said girls who leave Ukraine 'don't see a future here' and believe better career opportunities lie abroad. She hoped a ceasefire might change the situation, but has lost faith in America's commitment to support Ukraine since Donald Trump was elected. Kira, seated a few rows back, said that being forced to flee Zaporizhzhia for the relative safety of Ukraine's western Lviv Region had changed her perspective. 'Before the war I wasn't thinking about leaving at all,' she said. 'My native city was small – not like Lviv, no such buildings and historical monuments. I thought I would go to university in Kyiv or Kharkiv.' 'A better life in another country' With Poland just a few miles away, Kira and her family began visiting the country regularly. This exposure helped her to imagine studying in the similarly historic Polish city of Kraków. Poland has taken in more Ukrainian undergraduate students than any other European country. In 2023, almost 45 per cent of Poland's total foreign university student population was Ukrainian, according to data published by press agency Ukrinform. But the data also reveals a concerning surge in the numbers of young women choosing to leave Ukraine to study abroad. The number of female Ukrainian students entering Polish universities almost doubled in the year after the invasion, according to figures from the country's Radon data agency. The increase in the number of young men arriving was even greater. The allure of prestigious institutions in Europe is certainly a draw for young Ukrainians. But mostly, they just want to escape the war. 'When you have air raid alarms or bombing, there's no studying. You have to go online or in the bomb shelter – I want to achieve,' she said, adding that her best friend, who fled to Lviv from the Eastern Sumy Region, has also applied to university in Kraków. Classmate Tetiana Marvii, 17, had planned to stay in Lviv but changed her plans after a cousin received worse-than-expected grades – owing partly to air raid sirens during her exams. 'It's really stressful in Ukraine,' she said. A trip to see friends in nearby Lithuania inspired her to try and study international relations in the capital Vilnius – if she can pass an English language test for her course. 'It has been difficult to make this decision,' she admits, pressing her hands together. 'My parents said: you can do this, you are bright, you can go abroad. But I was not sure. My idea was just to have a life here – find a job, help my parents. But because the situation has changed, so have our plans.' Lithuania is a less common destination for Ukrainian students, with its national broadcaster LRT reporting that in 2024 there were 1,100 Ukrainians in total studying at its country's higher education institutions. Austrian public and private universities have seen large Ukrainian uptake in bachelor degree programmes. The number of female students doubled between 2021 and 2023, according to data provided by Statistics Austria from 223 to 447. Taras Hryvniak, 17, a former student at Lviv Physics and Maths Lyceum, left his family to study at the University of Vienna, Austria. When he turns 18, if he crosses the border back into Ukraine, he will not be allowed to return. Taras denied that Ukraine's conscription laws influenced his choice, but admits: 'My family loved this decision very much because my mum is scared for me.' Taras said half of the boys in his school class left for Europe, and almost as many girls. 'It's a really big amount,' he said. 'But my class was a good class. One of my friends studies at Cambridge University now. People are leaving because they want to gain new knowledge.' Angelina Kalyniuk, 18, finished school in Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk Region in 2023 before starting her degree at Kraków University of Economics. She said parents often try to push their children to leave Ukraine. 'I've heard situations where a child doesn't want to go but the parents said it was the best choice,' she said, pointing out that Ukraine has been at war since 2014. 'There is always something flying through the sky in Ukraine,' she said. 'Parents just want their children to have the best life.' Svitlana Bozhko, a teacher from Lviv, still has lessons with Angelina over Zoom and worries about who will rebuild the country after the war. 'She's a smart girl, and I'd like such people to be here,' she said, affectionately. 'We lose a lot of students, it is so upsetting.' Of the 34 students in her grade 11 class, eight girls and ten boys plan to leave this year. Tackling youth emigration is high on the agenda of Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES). Yevhen Kudriavets, Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Education and Science, told The Telegraph that efforts to retain the country's human capital would determine 'whether we can survive, rebuild the economy, and develop the state'. While there is no specific mechanism capturing the number of young women leaving Ukraine, various indicators show Ukraine's child population is sharply decreasing. There are now about 2.3 million Ukrainian child refugees living outside Ukraine, the majority of them in Europe, according to the United Nations. Ukraine's birth rate is falling, and MoES statistics show that the number of pupils starting school has fallen by almost a third nationally since 2021. 'This trend will continue and by 2029, the number of first graders will decrease by another 30 per cent,' Mr Kudriavets said. At least 701 children have been killed, and more than 19,000 deported or forcibly displaced. Tito Boeri, professor of economics at Bocconi University and the co-author of a 2022 study on Ukraine's labour market says Ukraine's emigration issue is 'very serious'. 'You can reconstruct physical capital – it takes time, but still can be done,' he told The Telegraph. 'Reconstructing human capital is way more challenging and may actually not succeed.' With an eye on the country's future, the Ukrainian government has made education a priority second only to defence. In 2024, the state budget allocated 171.2bn UAH (almost £3.3bn) to education – more than a fifth higher than the previous year. Much of this investment is aimed at school-level education, particularly on building underground schools so children in frontline areas can still be taught in-person. But the MoES is also investing heavily in higher education. Last year it introduced a state grant to help students cover the expenses of studying for bachelors degrees inside the country. More than 13,000 first year students received grants of up to 32,000 UAH (£608), and can continue to claim support annually. In 2021, the World Bank awarded Ukraine $200m (£156m) over five years to modernise teaching and research facilities in higher education. This includes merging and reducing the number of universities. Mr Kudriavets said the funding is crucial to increasing the sector's competitiveness. 'The current network of HE institutions in Ukraine was designed for the planned economy of the former Soviet Union,' he said. 'It must be restructured to align with new economic and geopolitical realities.' The government's efforts on education appeared to be working – at least for a time. Between 2021 and 2023, the total number of students starting bachelor level degree courses in Ukraine actually increased by almost a fifth from 203,452 to 239,008. One reason for the upswing was a change in the country's mobilisation law that offered exemption from military conscription for full-time male students. Another factor were financial benefits offered to children of military personnel, including tuition fees, free dormitory accommodation and textbooks, which encouraged more school-leavers to apply. But in 2024, the number of students on bachelor's courses fell dramatically by almost 51,700 students. This was partly because more than a tenth of applicants failed to pass entrance exams, raising concerns about the quality of school-level education. As well as trying to encourage students to stay in Ukraine, the MoES is investing in career opportunities to tempt Ukrainians left back after studies abroad. For example, it is developing a network of 'science parks' to promote innovation, and attract investment and job creation in high-tech industries. The newest one opened in Kyiv last month. Mr Kudriavets added that these efforts came while the ministry is also having to rebuild bombed schools – 3,676 education institutions have been damaged or destroyed since 2022. He is confident that the government can staunch the emigration flow: 'We can make Ukraine a country where young people see their future.' With no end to the fighting in sight, Kira is unsure whether she will return – Poland is a doorway to the rest of Europe. But war in Ukraine has made uncertainty her new normal. 'Life is so difficult,' she sighs. 'I don't know what tomorrow will be.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine has a problem no one is talking about – young women are leaving in droves
In a classroom in western Ukraine, a group of teenagers are thinking about their futures. Seventeen-year-old Kira Yukhymenko had always planned to go to university in her home country, but in between sitting her final exams this month, she has been dreaming of leaving to study abroad. 'The war has helped us understand who we are,' she said during a discussion in an English lesson at her school, Lyceum 88, in Lviv. 'It has broadened our horizons and also made us more independent.' Since the war broke out and martial law was introduced, young men have been banned from leaving Ukraine after they turn 18, but young women like Ms Yukhymenko are free to leave. In three years of conflict, large numbers of them have chosen to do so, swapping war-torn Ukraine for European cities far from the threat of Vladimir Putin's drones and bombs. Few have returned, and more are leaving with every passing year. As well as being a brain drain – some of Ukraine's brightest and best are among those leaving the country – the emigration wave is also a demographic time bomb. Locked in a costly war of attrition against Russia, there are real concerns over who will rebuild the country once the war is over, if the nation's youth does not return. The group of 30 final year pupils, seated at desks in pairs, had chosen the topic for debate themselves: education and future career opportunities in Ukraine. Their teacher, Liudmila Makohin, said many were considering emigrating. 'The situation is getting worse every day due to the war making young people choose universities in Europe not Ukraine,' she told The Telegraph. Ms Makohin asked the group to raise their hands if they planned to leave Ukraine after completing their exams. Three girls reacted quickly, before several other students – boys and girls – laughed nervously and tentatively raised their arms. Sofia, a student in the front row wearing a cream jumper and gold, hooped earrings, said the longer the war goes on, the more people want to leave. 'When the war started people were very enthusiastic,' she began. 'But a lot of time has gone by and people are more depressed. They think there's a better life in another country.' English teacher Halyna Pidhrebelna agrees. Commenting on the discussion later in a small staff room over coffee, she said girls who leave Ukraine 'don't see a future here' and believe better career opportunities lie abroad. She hoped a ceasefire might change the situation, but has lost faith in America's commitment to support Ukraine since Donald Trump was elected. Kira, seated a few rows back, said that being forced to flee Zaporizhzhia for the relative safety of Ukraine's western Lviv Region had changed her perspective. 'Before the war I wasn't thinking about leaving at all,' she said. 'My native city was small – not like Lviv, no such buildings and historical monuments. I thought I would go to university in Kyiv or Kharkiv.' With Poland just a few miles away, Kira and her family began visiting the country regularly. This exposure helped her to imagine studying in the similarly historic Polish city of Kraków. Poland has taken in more Ukrainian undergraduate students than any other European country. In 2023, almost 45 per cent of Poland's total foreign university student population was Ukrainian, according to data published by press agency Ukrinform. But the data also reveals a concerning surge in the numbers of young women choosing to leave Ukraine to study abroad. The number of female Ukrainian students entering Polish universities almost doubled in the year after the invasion, according to figures from the country's Radon data agency. The increase in the number of young men arriving was even greater. The allure of prestigious institutions in Europe is certainly a draw for young Ukrainians. But mostly, they just want to escape the war. 'When you have air raid alarms or bombing, there's no studying. You have to go online or in the bomb shelter – I want to achieve,' she said, adding that her best friend, who fled to Lviv from the Eastern Sumy Region, has also applied to university in Kraków. Classmate Tetiana Marvii, 17, had planned to stay in Lviv but changed her plans after a cousin received worse-than-expected grades – owing partly to air raid sirens during her exams. 'It's really stressful in Ukraine,' she said. A trip to see friends in nearby Lithuania inspired her to try and study international relations in the capital Vilnius – if she can pass an English language test for her course. 'It has been difficult to make this decision,' she admits, pressing her hands together. 'My parents said: you can do this, you are bright, you can go abroad. But I was not sure. My idea was just to have a life here – find a job, help my parents. But because the situation has changed, so have our plans.' Lithuania is a less common destination for Ukrainian students, with its national broadcaster LRT reporting that in 2024 there were 1,100 Ukrainians in total studying at its country's higher education institutions. Austrian public and private universities have seen large Ukrainian uptake in bachelor degree programmes. The number of female students doubled between 2021 and 2023, according to data provided by Statistics Austria from 223 to 447. Taras Hryvniak, 17, a former student at Lviv Physics and Maths Lyceum, left his family to study at the University of Vienna, Austria. When he turns 18, if he crosses the border back into Ukraine, he will not be allowed to return. Taras denied that Ukraine's conscription laws influenced his choice, but admits: 'My family loved this decision very much because my mum is scared for me.' Taras said half of the boys in his school class left for Europe, and almost as many girls. 'It's a really big amount,' he said. 'But my class was a good class. One of my friends studies at Cambridge University now. People are leaving because they want to gain new knowledge.' Angelina Kalyniuk, 18, finished school in Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk Region in 2023 before starting her degree at Kraków University of Economics. She said parents often try to push their children to leave Ukraine. 'I've heard situations where a child doesn't want to go but the parents said it was the best choice,' she said, pointing out that Ukraine has been at war since 2014. 'There is always something flying through the sky in Ukraine,' she said. 'Parents just want their children to have the best life.' Svitlana Bozhko, a teacher from Lviv, still has lessons with Angelina over Zoom and worries about who will rebuild the country after the war. 'She's a smart girl, and I'd like such people to be here,' she said, affectionately. 'We lose a lot of students, it is so upsetting.' Of the 34 students in her grade 11 class, eight girls and ten boys plan to leave this year. Tackling youth emigration is high on the agenda of Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Sciences (MoES). Yevhen Kudriavets, Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Education and Science, told The Telegraph that efforts to retain the country's human capital would determine 'whether we can survive, rebuild the economy, and develop the state'. While there is no specific mechanism capturing the number of young women leaving Ukraine, various indicators show Ukraine's child population is sharply decreasing. There are now about 2.3 million Ukrainian child refugees living outside Ukraine, the majority of them in Europe, according to the United Nations. Ukraine's birth rate is falling, and MoES statistics show that the number of pupils starting school has fallen by almost a third nationally since 2021. 'This trend will continue and by 2029, the number of first graders will decrease by another 30 per cent,' Mr Kudriavets said. At least 701 children have been killed, and more than 19,000 deported or forcibly displaced. Tito Boeri, professor of economics at Bocconi University and the co-author of a 2022 study on Ukraine's labour market says Ukraine's emigration issue is 'very serious'. 'You can reconstruct physical capital – it takes time, but still can be done,' he told The Telegraph. 'Reconstructing human capital is way more challenging and may actually not succeed.' With an eye on the country's future, the Ukrainian government has made education a priority second only to defence. In 2024, the state budget allocated 171.2bn UAH (almost £3.3bn) to education – more than a fifth higher than the previous year. Much of this investment is aimed at school-level education, particularly on building underground schools so children in frontline areas can still be taught in-person. But the MoES is also investing heavily in higher education. Last year it introduced a state grant to help students cover the expenses of studying for bachelors degrees inside the country. More than 13,000 first year students received grants of up to 32,000 UAH (£608), and can continue to claim support annually. In 2021, the World Bank awarded Ukraine $200m (£156m) over five years to modernise teaching and research facilities in higher education. This includes merging and reducing the number of universities. Mr Kudriavets said the funding is crucial to increasing the sector's competitiveness. 'The current network of HE institutions in Ukraine was designed for the planned economy of the former Soviet Union,' he said. 'It must be restructured to align with new economic and geopolitical realities.' The government's efforts on education appeared to be working – at least for a time. Between 2021 and 2023, the total number of students starting bachelor level degree courses in Ukraine actually increased by almost a fifth from 203,452 to 239,008. One reason for the upswing was a change in the country's mobilisation law that offered exemption from military conscription for full-time male students. Another factor were financial benefits offered to children of military personnel, including tuition fees, free dormitory accommodation and textbooks, which encouraged more school-leavers to apply. But in 2024, the number of students on bachelor's courses fell dramatically by almost 51,700 students. This was partly because more than a tenth of applicants failed to pass entrance exams, raising concerns about the quality of school-level education. As well as trying to encourage students to stay in Ukraine, the MoES is investing in career opportunities to tempt Ukrainians left back after studies abroad. For example, it is developing a network of 'science parks' to promote innovation, and attract investment and job creation in high-tech industries. The newest one opened in Kyiv last month. Mr Kudriavets added that these efforts came while the ministry is also having to rebuild bombed schools – 3,676 education institutions have been damaged or destroyed since 2022. He is confident that the government can staunch the emigration flow: 'We can make Ukraine a country where young people see their future.' With no end to the fighting in sight, Kira is unsure whether she will return – Poland is a doorway to the rest of Europe. But war in Ukraine has made uncertainty her new normal. 'Life is so difficult,' she sighs. 'I don't know what tomorrow will be.' Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Sun
08-06-2025
- The Sun
I help Brits move to Spain -these stunning beach towns with 3-bed homes from £500-a-month are perfect for expats
ONE in five Brits admit to daydreaming about ditching the UK for a new life in sunny Spain. It's no surprise when you discover you can escape the Great British gloom for a three-bed in the Med for just £500-a-month. 8 The 2024 British Expat Report shows even more British families are considering emigrating in the next five years, with 11 per cent ready to leave right now. According to the data, 532,000 Brits emigrated last year, with 45% craving a better quality of life, 39% blaming the cost-of-living crisis and 37% just sick of our miserable weather. Millene Adaime works for relocation experts, Movinn, who help people move to Spain and Portugal from overseas. Over recent years, the demand for expats seeking a new life in Spain has increased, with more families reaching out to them for help. She told Sun Travel: "Spain used to have the reputation of being somewhere to retire to in your 60s and 70s, but we are getting more requests from modern families or young entrepreneurs who are looking for a different way of life. "The cost of living here is more affordable, and, of course, we have a fantastic climate." With demand growing, areas typically popular with Brits flying south for the sun are becoming crowded and more expensive. Boozy Benidorm has long been the Brit bolthole of choice, but Millene says the party playground is not necessarily the cheapest spot on the coast. She said: "Brits tend to favour areas they already know, like Benidorm, and due to the popularity of British movers to the area, the suburbs outside the tourist hub are very nice and very desirable. "However, the downside is that prices are on the rise and it's not the cheapest place to move to now." 8 8 Plan ahead Milene warns families also need to take into account other things that may end up costing more money down the line. She said: "We identify our clients' needs and make suggestions that might make life easier once they move in. "For example, if you have kids and would like them to attend an International school, where they speak primarily in English, moving to an area with a good school that has space available is highly recommended. "You don't want to base your family somewhere and land yourself with a terrible commute. "Some areas are better for families and some are more suited to young professionals. "Of course, our retired residents tend to favour the south of Spain, due to the year-round warm weather." Milene says when her clients ask for advice, she tailors it to suit their needs. She said: Some people who come to Spain from the UK want a completely different way of life. They want to embrace Spanish culture and go all-in. "Cádiz in the south is very Spanish. It's a traditional community where people leave their front door open and it's very social. "It's a place where your friends will just walk into your home, uninvited. A lot of Brits are thrown by this. "Some people want to move here for the weather and be around other British people. "That's fine, but I would recommend a different area to them, where life is a bit closer to home." With more people working from home than ever and incentives for business start-ups in countries like Spain, it's no wonder that so many of us dream of a new life on the beach. Do you imagine yourself soaking up the sun after work and spending weekends sipping €3 Cava under a palm tree? If you are considering a Mediterranean move, these are the Spanish spots you should be looking at this year: Best all-rounder - Alicante 8 This is a good choice for Brits wanting to start a new life in Spain. Alicante is a well-rounded city with beaches, international schools, good healthcare, and excellent public transportation. It's a popular choice for British families and has a strong expat community, which will help you settle in and feel more at home. Look at suburbs like San Juan or El Campello, since they are particularly family-friendly. Expect to pay: A three-bed house in El Campello, close to the beach: £1,000-a-month. Three bed apartments can be found for £750-a-month. Best for budget - Torrevieja 8 Torrevieja is a beautiful coastal area, just south of Alicante. The rustic coastline is less populated and made up of a series of secluded coves and sandy beaches. It's less crowded than the more famous tourist areas and cheaper than many other coastal towns, since it's very small and quaint. However, expats are catching on and Torrevieja has started to build a significant British population. It offers a quieter, simpler lifestyle with essential amenities like parks, beaches, and English-speaking services, making it ideal for families looking for lower rental costs. Expect to pay: A three-bed apartment with a balcony and a partial sea view: £506-a-month. A three-bed house with gardens and shared pool: £1,000 per month. Best for families - Malaga 8 With claims of over 300 sunny days a year, Málaga is popular with sun-seeking Brits. Compared to other European cities, it is considered very affordable and has a stretch of beautiful beaches. Málaga features several international schools, including the British School of Málaga, and Brits can enjoy very convenient flight links to the UK all year round. Away from the nightlife strip, the coastal suburbs like Pedregalejo and Rincón de la Victoria are excellent for families. Expect to pay: A three-bedroom house in Pedregalejo: £1,500-a-month. A three-bedroom apartment with sea views in Rincón de la Victoria is £1,100 a month Best for young professionals - Seville 8 A city rich in culture and charm, Seville offers a warm climate and a more relaxed pace of life. It's a good option for families seeking a more traditional Spanish experience, but Brits might be put off that there is no beach. The closest beach is inside the Donana National Park, an hour from Seville. While there are fewer international schools than in Alicante, but bilingual education options are available if you want the kids to learn Spanish too. Affordable housing with a bit more space can be found in areas like Mairena del Aljarafe, outside the city centre. Expect to pay: A semi-detached home in a serviced complex with a shared pool: £1,338 a month. A three-bed apartment in Mairena del Aljarafe: £700 euro a month.
