Over the past several years, more Americans than ever have left this side of the ocean for life in sunny Spain — and they aren’t just lured by tapas.
Source: The number of Americans moving to Spain has risen since 2019
Meaningless airhead reporting:
Between 2019 and 2021, the number of American expats living in Spain jumped by 13% — and the number of homes Americans bought in the southern European nation went up by 88%, according to a new study by the Spanish government.
Is that a 13% increase from 10, 100, 1000, 50,000? Without providing a number, the percentage is meaningless gibberish. The 20-something writer has a degree in poli sci. The source for this information is her own prior story, which in turn, quotes a CNBC report, which was sourced to a report by the General Council of Notaries in Spain – which is a dead link.
Factfulness
- According to Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, about 78,000 Americans are living in Spain. This is not a large number, contrary to the story’s claim.
- A relocation service puts the number at about 30,000 but that might be an estimate from many years ago.
- Less than 1% of American retirees are living in another country: How many Americans retire abroad? – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking
- In any given year, about 1.4% to 2.7% of Americans live abroad.
As seen in Part 1 and Part 2 stories on the myth of moving abroad, linked in the right column, these stories ae fluffy nonsense that follows a standard outline:
- America is awful
- This person/couple/family moved to country X where everything is wonderful
Most of the story subjects who “moved abroad”, did not really move abroad – they commute due to a 90-day visa limitation – or they had immigration privilege with dual citizenship or right of descent ancestry immigration privilege that most people do not have. See Part 1 and 2 for details.
As seen in the actual numbers, very few Americans make these treks for full time living abroad. Yet the media peddles this nonsense every week.