MADRID – Highly skilled Britons are moving to a small, lesser-known region of Spain thanks to the generous tax perks on offer.
Phil Martin moved to the Basque Country in northwestern Spain, which is far more like his own rainy Manchester than the Mediterranean beach resorts beloved of other Britons.
However, his new life in this small corner of the country still has warmer weather than the UK plus generous tax perks.
Like many other highly skilled Britons who made the move, he was drawn by a 50 per cent tax reduction offered by the government of the Basque Autonomous Community to those settling in the region’s Biscay province.
The programme applies to anyone — Spaniards or foreign nationals — who has worked outside Spain for five years and it runs for 11 years. To qualify, a person must secure a job before moving into technology, science, finance, commercial or management or launching a start-up.
Furthermore last week the Basque Country raised the obligation to file a tax return to €20,000 (£16,776), a figure that in the UK stands at £12,570.
Dr Martin, 43, an ecologist from Manchester now earns his living at the Basque Centre for Climate Change.
“With my current job, [the tax perks] work out at €200 to €300 (£170-£255) more in my wage packet every month. It is because they are interested in getting highly skilled people,” he told The i Paper.
“The Basque Country is much more like the UK in terms of weather, except it is a lot warmer. I say it is a lot more like Manchester than Madrid.”
Dr Martin said he would prefer to be in the Basque Country than on the Spanish Costas.
Phil Martin, who moved to the Basque Country from the UK, was drawn by a 50 per cent tax reduction“I find the climate easier to deal with here. People say Mediterranean Spain is nice in the winter but in the summer it is really hot. I work in a climate change centre, so I have a good idea of what is coming for the south of Spain and it doesn’t look good.”
In addition to the tax incentives, Britons are being pushed to leave the UK by factors including the rising cost of living.
Furthermore the rising cost of living in Britain, particularly since Brexit, has led many to move abroad in search of a better quality of life.
Brexit is one of the factors that have encouraged Spaniards in the UK to move back to Spain. In 2019, before the Brexit agreement came into force, 4,000 Basque workers lived in the UK but by last year only 79 skilled Spanish workers had migrated from the region to Britain.
In the same year, 93 Britons moved the other way to the Basque Country.
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Ivan Jimenez, director of Bizkaia Talent, a public-private partnership to attract talent, said: “Beyond these financial benefits, quality of life plays a critical role. Added to this is the rising cost of living since Brexit which has led many to reconsider where they can build a stable and fulfilling professional and personal life.”
Bizkaia Talent also helps spouses to find work in Spain.
Alberto Minguela, 39, a business development manager who has joint British and Spanish nationality, moved to the Basque Country in 2021 with his wife and son after spending 15 years living in London.
“Brexit was not a dealbreaker. But the political environment during the pandemic was. The way the country was run, made us feel like we were locked in,” he said.
“The tax benefits [in the Basque Country] were very attractive. There is 30 per cent off your income tax, then there is another 20 per cent off which you can declare your expenses for the house, your Wi-Fi, language lessons, school fees.”
Mr Minguela’s five-year-old son goes to a private school and he can declare this cost in his tax returns.
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