EU must examine funding issues, states Spanish professor  

Costa Blanca News | Noticia

THE EUROPEAN Union urgently needs to respond to issues surrounding the mass migration of pensioners to Spain, according to a report based on Britons who have retired to the Costa Blanca.

Professor Inmaculada Hurtado at Elche's Cardenal Herrera university has examined the topics of aging, health and care since the 1970s.

She researched the lives of Britons aged 55 and over in areas including Santa Pola, Torrevieja and Elche to reach her conclusions.

Sra Hurtado claims the EU never considered free movement of its citizens would be widely taken advantage of by retirees, as it was conceived for workers.

She says politicians have mistakenly viewed this as tourism instead of migration, insisting governments must analyse and implement strategies and resources over lack of funding for healthcare.

"The EU has not organised compensation between countries well, there are loopholes in the laws and a lot of money is being wasted," she said.

She also notes publicity campaigns by various Spanish institutions are partly responsible for the wave of migration.

"Governments sell land, sun and health and people come looking for this," she assured.

One chapter of her study examines the problem of British retirees concentrated in big urbanisations forming "urban islands which make it difficult to integrate and relate with the native population".

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