THE PROVINCE of Alicante continues to be host and “welcome” the migration of retired people choosing to build a new life in the sun.
Attracted by the European Union’s freedom of movement for citizens, the region has become home to thousands of people from northern member states – many of them pensioners.
And on Monday the provincial government the Deputacion de Alicante staged its fourth ‘dialogue’, a seminar to help the integration of the non-Spanish population, which now outnumbers natives.
The conference in Calpe was attended by government representatives, town mayors and councillors, British Vice-consul Lloyd Millen, the Belgian consul, and expat groups and charities.
Mayor of Benissa Juan Bautisa Rosello opened the seminar and said it was an opportunity to debate the problems, advantages and disadvantages of living in the province.
HOST
“Alicante is a hosting land and a welcoming land,” he said. “The non-Spanish population is now greater than the Spanish population.
“It is also the most European area in Europe – we have residents of all the European countries – there is no other region in the world like it.”
And he said a round table discussion would examine the problems of the aging European population “residents who have chosen us, Alicante, as a place to spend their retirement years and stay with us for the last period of their lives.”
Professor Mayte Echezarreta, an expert of law at Malaga University, is part of a think tank examining the migration of pensioners into Spain – a “complex” phenomenon labelled ‘gerontomigracion’.
“I research the mobility of elderly people, citizens of retirement age who choose destinations in Spain to spend that stage of their lives.”
CONCERN
She said such migration was a “concern” for both the host country and the country of origin “which is liable and responsible for citizens.”
And Ms Echezarreta said the movement came under the umbrella of the EU and the concern was they should be able to access social services and of support agencies.
“Our main concern is the lack of information available to the citizen. They must have access to someone to deal with their issues,” she said.
The professor said after five years there was now a 10 point “test” for institutions to mark how they were suited to welcoming migrants.
And she underlined the importance of people registering on the local town hall census, the Padron, so the authorities knew of their existence and to be a gateway to help and “harmonise” the transition to life in a new country.
However, the professor also said EU member states also had their own laws which governed the lives of migrants and the assistance available – and matters such as inheritance and taxation.
