12% more Britons seek new life in Spain

The Guardian reports that the number of people seeking a new life in Spain has surged by 12% as Britons firmly established themselves as the country's fourth-largest immigrant community.

Spanish government figures showed that the number of British expatriates registered as resident in Spain had risen to 352,000 at the start of 2008, a bigger British population than all but eight local authorities in England, according to the most recent census figures.

The Guardian adds that although the new figures were gathered before the tumbling value of the pound began creating problems for those living off British pensions in Spain, few people expect numbers to start falling.

Emigrants to Spain are no longer mainly pensioners. The figures show that only one third of Britons living in Spain are aged over 55.  Most Britons are of working age.

The Foreign Office believes the official Spanish figure still hugely under-represents the real numbers living in Spain. "Around 1 million Britons now live permanently in Spain," it says.