"Retiring to Spain gave us a healthy kick"
So despondent with the generally dreadful British weather and some family deaths that made them yearn for change, Carol and Phil decided the time was right to move to Spain.
The couple from Portsmouth were keen golfers and decided to try Murcia for a three-week holiday in September 2022. They liked what they saw and decided to seize the moment says Carol, 65, who used to work at the Ministry of Defence. “We opened a Spanish bank account and said let’s go home and put our home on the market and sort out a visa!” They got a long-rental property on the Mar Menor and decided to look around for where best to buy a home. Soon swapping their rental for a two-bed flat overlooking the 13th hole on the nearby Mar Menor Golf Resort, they began to hone their search.
“We really liked the Club, where there’s a great community, especially the one revolving around the padel tennis scene – we’ve discovered padel and are now hooked!” says Phil, 70, a retired customer support engineer in aviation whose work took him all around the world.
“We’ve made so many friends – it’s a great mix of British, Belgians, French, Norwegians who have homes here. Our social life is amazing.”
With rental rates and property prices on the up – the going rate for a two-bedroom apartment is around €1,200 a month although the couple have been lucky to only pay around half that - they decided to buy as soon as possible. Properties on the Mar Menor Golf Resort start from around €115,000. They put in an offer on a two-bed, two-bath townhouse with a swimming pool on the seventh fairway. It was a former rental property, it needed a facelift but cost them less than their €250,000 budget – at €217,400 (£183k). Building work will be done before the couple move in in December.
In the meantime they are having a fantastic time on the resort and have no plans to return to the UK. “We’ve lost weight as we play padel four times a week and also do Pilates (Carol) and golf too,” says Phil. Membership of the sports club, where there’s a gym, yoga, Crossfit and the padel courts, is €900 per year.
“Golf can be expensive here, but I’ve joined the Regal Golf Society which means I can get a round of golf and a buggy for €60-€70 instead of around €150.” The resort is 25 minutes from Murcia International Airport and 20 minutes to the historic city of Cartagena. The beach is only 12 minutes away.
The couple have renewed their Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) – after one year this visa is renewed for two years – and Carol managed to navigate the visa application process herself, which is pretty admirable bearing in mind the amount of paperwork.
“Our top tip for this and other admin tasks when moving to Spain is to find a good translator and they can help you do everything – from sorting out your TIE (identity card) to making a doctor’s appointment,” says Phil. Small jobs cost from €30.
“You must also be aware that when you renew it for two years you need to show two years’ worth of financial resources,” says Carol. “If you decide to keep your UK property [and not release the funds] then this can be a problem for people who don’t have reasonable private pensions.”
Passive sources of income are required of at least €28,800 per year for a single person, or €36,000 for a married couple in 2024. So that’s €72,000 (£65,000) for a renewal. Running costs for their townhouse include €85 a month for community fees. “But the landscaping on the resort is superb,” adds Phil. He can’t see them ever returning to the UK – even for a visit, he jokes. “I tell people they have to come and see us instead! And in fact we are being inundated with visitors…”
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