A mother who emigrated to
Spain
with her family has revealed she will never return to Ireland or the UK because it is cheaper living abroad.
Sandra Laurie packed her bags along with her husband Warner and their two children, Oliver, 12 and nine-year-old Abi, in 2017, and relocated to Costa del Sol.
Prior to the move, the family had been forking out nearly £1,700 a month on childcare costs alone while living in their native County Tipperary, Ireland.
But the ongoing financial strain, along with a low quality of life, eventually proved too much, prompting the family to up sticks and head for a sunnier and cheaper way of life.
Having left their jobs and small housing estate behind, the family now live in a large Spanish villa they purchased in 2022. Just minutes from the beach, the luxurious property even features its own swimming pool and picturesque sea views.
Ms Laurie, 38, said that the idea of emigrating to the Spanish coast first occurred when the family visited the area to celebrate her 30th birthday.
Describing how she instantly fell in love with the ‘relaxed outdoor lifestyle’, the expat said: ‘We had met other families already living in the Costa del Sol, and their relaxed, outdoor lifestyle with the kids made us realise what we were missing.
‘We were on the plane home when we said, “It’s now or never”. The Costa del Sol offered sunshine, family life, and a healthier way of living.
‘We had been there many times over the years on holidays and visiting, but something changed on the trip in 2016 – we really started to assess and evaluate that there had to be a better way of life.’
At the time, Ms Laurie and her husband were spending triple their monthly mortgage costs on childcare alone. That, coupled with the increasing cost of living across Ireland, was making ‘life extremely difficult’ for the couple.
Adding that childcare costs were ‘consuming the majority of our disposable income’, she said: ‘Despite good salaries, the cost of living in Ireland made life extremely difficult.
‘Our mortgage was only €600 (£500) a month, but childcare was a staggering €1,857 (£1,568) per month.
‘It consumed the majority of our disposable income. We were essentially working to pay for someone else to raise our children.’
As their son suffers from severe asthma, the family were also dealing with significant medical expenses, paying for regular, costly GP visits, alongside high prescription costs.
Ms Laurie said that the ‘exhausted’ couple were often ‘forced’ to choose between the cost of medication for their sons and bills, living day-to-day in a ‘constant cycle of stress’.
The mother-of-two also confessed that the meticulous budgeting required was adding great strain to their relationship.
Recognising that something desperately ‘had to change’, Ms Laurie quit her position as a contact centre director while her husband Warner, working as a sales leader, chose to make a vast career change and pursue a real estate business in Spain.
At the time, the pair had just €50,000 (£42,000) to their name, made from from the sale of their home in Ireland, which they used to secure rent for their first year abroad.
But, it was entirely worth the short-term financial struggle.
Ms Laurie said: ‘The difference in our lifestyle was immediate and drastic.
‘Nursery fees can be heavily subsidised or free, primary school is free, and it starts at three years of age, and after-school care is heavily subsidised for working parents.
‘Our childcare costs dropped to around €200 (£170) per month.’
The family also noted a remarkable difference in their daily expenses, citing cheaper eating out costs, while the warm and sunny weather facilitated free, outdoor activities for the children.
No longer living pay cheque to pay cheque, Ms Laurie said the family relished in the ‘family-centric’ culture of Spain, as their children, now bilingual, were able to stay up later for meals and socialise with their parents.
Insisting that the move has had an ‘incredible’ impact on her young children, Ms Laurie remarked: ‘They spend more time outdoors, participate in sports, and have adjusted beautifully.
‘The lifestyle is slower, safer, and more focused on family.
‘They are open-minded and are used to interacting with multiple cultures because the Costa Del Sol is a cultural melting pot.’
Ms Laurie and Warner established their real estate business in 2018 before investing in property-buying, renovating and selling homes, which eventually allowed them to buy their ‘dream’ home.
Believing that their incredible success would not have been possible in Ireland, given ‘the higher operating costs and lack of flexibility for working parents’, Ms Laurie now coaches other people interested in relocating to Spain in search of a ‘better life’.
And, given the vast amount of perks she cites as a result of the move, Ms Laurie insists they have zero plans to return home.
Citing the slower pace of life, family-friendly culture, cheaper cost of living and better climate as just some of the reasons for staying, Ms Laurie added: ‘We don’t plan on ever moving back. Spain has adopted us, and it truly feels like home.
‘Rising home costs in the UK and Ireland would be a concern, making us really
question
whether we could afford what we have in Spain in another country – our pool, a very large garden, space for guests, and being within walking distance to the beach.
‘Living abroad, particularly in Spain, has given us something we never had in Ireland: time. Time to enjoy life, raise our kids, build a business, and thrive, not just survive.
‘Ireland will always be in our hearts, but we have found our future here.’
Spain continues to be one of the most popular destinations for Brits looking for a place in the sun, with some 350,000 UK nationals officially
registered as living in the country
, while more than 12,000 settle permanently with their own property each year.
Despite UK government pledges to
levy holiday homes and prioritise nationals
, Brits are continually drawn to the allure of sunshine, good food and a cheaper cost of living.
However, in a bid to tackle a growing housing crisis, the Spanish government are currently pushing ahead with a controversial plan to
slam Brits with a 100 per cent tax on holiday homes
.
In May, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist party presented the plan to the country’s Parliament. Under such plan, first announced in January, non-EU residents would have to pay double for properties in the country.
The bill aims to promote ‘measures that enable access to housing, since we are facing one of the largest problems our society is currently confronted with’, according to a copy of the draft legislation seen by Bloomberg.
Brits are the biggest buyers of Spanish properties outside of native Spaniards, making up 8.2 per cent of deals.
In 2023 alone, non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain.
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