Retirees Des and Julie from Macclesfield in Cheshire got married last year and part of their honeymoon was filming the TV show with Ben Hillman in July 2021. Their plan was to buy their first home together and enjoy an active new life in Spain, which has gone very much to plan (nearly), they tell us…
Sharing part of their honeymoon with Ben in Oliva, Des and Julie also managed to find their dream home in property three, a traditional five-bedroom house they bought for £112,000. By September they had completed their purchase and moved out to Spain – which must be one of the swiftest relocations we’ve come across.
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“We didn’t have to sell a home in the UK – we had been renting, so we packed up our furniture for shipping and were off,” says Des, 58. His Irish passport also played a part. “We didn’t have to apply for a visa before moving over – I had the ‘golden ticket’,” he says. Now they are married, Julie can piggyback on his residency permit to get hers too.
Whilst also acquiring a dog, Romeo, the couple set to work on adapting the property before the scorching summer of 2022 was to make hard work slow going. “We opened up the downstairs and transformed the property from a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house to a four-bedroom, three-bathroom one,” says Julie, 62. “It works really well for all the visitors we’ve had – and that’s at least 30!”
The rest of the decorating is a ‘work in progress’, says Des. “Temperatures of 40 degrees this summer were really ‘disabling’ for painting, but am now doing it room by room,” he says.
In the meantime, the couple have been enjoying the area. They knew Oliva well after many holidays, so there have been no nasty surprises or disappointments about their new neighbourhood. Julie does beach yoga and salsa classes, whilst Des has joined a walking group to explore the mountains and they are ‘slowly’ learning Spanish. “We have a very active life now and go to the beach at least once a week. We’ll also go to Valencia city, an hour away, or Alicante city – which is a real discovery, it’s very historic and has a lovely seafront,” says Julie.
They’ve also been back to the UK regularly to see family, which is the only thing they really miss about their former home. “Flights are very reasonable from Alicante if you choose you can be flexible with your timing.” The only real problem is the ongoing debacle for British nationals over driving licences in Spain. Des, like other British expats, is no longer able to drive in Spain until a deal about the transfer of UK driving licences is agreed. He’s using his bike a lot, whilst Julie can drive until her residency permit is processed. “I’m making the most of that delay!” she says.
