Most of them are retired. I think if you're a relatively poor pensioner in a higher cost-of-living rich country like the UK it can make sense to move to a lower cost-of-living country to make the same pension go further. With the cheap flights that we got in the 2000s it wasn't really much different to being in a different town in terms of how far away you were.

The weather

My guess is better weather, food, and cheaper.

For the demographic in question, it's definitely not the food. Many of them refuse to eat "foreign muck". :|

My experience of British pensioners on the continent is that they are overall very pleasant people to be around and do contribute to local life, even if it sometimes includes opening a pub next to the local café. Not all of them are living caricatures in Benidorm, far from it.

Yes, in my other comment I make fun of their cuisine but it’s all good sport.

I grew up in south west France. A lot of properties or village even would have disappeared without rich Londoner. I don’t resend them a bit. Even the more obtuse one.

Well, British cuisine is fair game.

Really? Hilarious, given the sorry state of the English cuisine. Idk, maybe I’m heavily biased as French.

British food these days seems fine to me as a visitor but certainly somewhat different from Spain. Sunnier/warmer weather, lower prices, and generally more laid-back lifestyle would make sense to me however.

British food is just the same as Spanish food.

Britain: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/in-your-area/new-mcd...

Spain: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/mcdonalds-madrid-spain-p...

The same reason people from New England move to Florida when they retire.

That is not the problem. Nothing wrong with moving where you want.

England is cold and grey, and the food sucks.

Every mediterranean country is littered with Brits, especially retirees / pensioners.

Would you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here? Your account has been sliding into flamewar repeatedly already, including nationalistic and regional flamewar. We're trying for something other than that here.

> Every mediterranean country is littered with Brits, especially retirees / pensioners.

"Littered"? If you replace "Brits" with other groups, are you still happy with the tone of the sentence?

Littered isn't necessarily a pejorative term. You could litter a bed with rose petals, or find your path littered with gold coins.

It's not necessarily like saying 'trashed'.

I had forgotten the alternative definition. Thanks!

Definitely, it isn't necessarily a pejorative term. In this case however, given the context, I believe it's used as such...