A Brit who moved to Spain and built a new life for himself revealed the biggest challenge he experienced.
Lee Thornley, 43, left his job as a barrister and relocated overseas in 2008 with the intention to learn Spanish.
There are reportedly some 350,000 British people officially registered as living in Spain, with many attracted by the alluring weather and good food.
‘I just thought, I want to change things, and I didn’t have any kids and didn’t have any mortgages, so I was like I’m just going to go to Spain and learn Spanish,’ he told MailOnline Travel.
Lee fell in love with the area that his language school was based in, Costa de la Luz, and the benefits he was experiencing from moving countries.
‘I felt healthier, I felt happier,’ he explained, revealing how he thought at the time that he ‘never wanted to go back to London‘.
The Brit met his now ex-wife, who he shares two children with, and bought land in the area. They built a hotel that became luxury rural hideaway, Casa la Siesta.
However, Lee’s Spanish journey hasn’t always been easy.
Lee Thornley (pictured), 43, left his job as a barrister and relocated overseas in 2008 with the intention to learn Spanish
Lee fell in love with the area that his language school was based in, Costa de la Luz, and the benefits he was experiencing from moving countries. Pictured: Casa la Siesta, Lee’s hotel
He admitted one of the biggest challenges he faced was learning the language.
‘Language – I think that’s probably the biggest challenge you have,’ Lee explained.
‘You know, your ability to communicate, so getting a good grasp of the Spanish language was probably the first challenge to overcome.’
It took Lee 12 months to become completely fluent.
‘When you’re very much immersed in it, and you have to, then you just do. There’s no option. You just have to figure it out,’ he said.
Another challenge Lee faced was tackling the hotel project, which was a much larger task than he had worked on before.
He added: ‘… I’d done housing projects, but on a much smaller scale, like a regular two bedroom house in York, or we did a house project in Spain as well.
‘We had, we had some experience, but nothing like what the scale of the project ended up being.
‘So, it was more kind of naivety that, in a positive way, meant that I was confident to go ahead and have a go at it.
Lee fell in love with the area that his language school was based in, Costa de la Luz, and the benefits he was experiencing from moving countries
He admitted that one of the biggest challenges he faced was learning the language
‘But for sure, once I started on building a much bigger project like that, you realise you’ve got a lot to learn pretty quickly.’
From building the hotel, Lee developed a passion for interior design and went on to found his own tile business.
Lee now splits his time between Yorkshire and Spain. He moved back to the UK with his family a few years after his first child was born.
‘So when we had our first daughter, we lived out there full time until she was three,’ he said.
Being away from family and the children not having ‘access to their grandparents and them being part of their growing up’ was important to both Lee and his wife.
‘So it was more family reasons I think, wanting the kids to kind of grow up around a wider family network,’ he explained.
However, the businessman intends to return to Spain full time in the future.
‘Once the kids go off to uni, we’ll definitely move back to Spain,’ Lee said.
As for his tips for those wanting to make the move and start a new life in Spain, Lee emphasises the importance of getting stuck into the local culture.
Another challenge Lee faced was tackling the hotel project, which was a much larger task than he had worked on before
Lee now splits his time between Yorkshire and Spain. He moved back to the UK with his family a few years after his first child was born
‘It’s just really important to kind of integrate yourself as much as possible before you necessarily go in with two feet,’ he explained.
Getting to know the local people and being seen ‘as part of the community’ is vital for settling down there.
‘I think we did a good job at living out there, learning Spanish, contributing to local economy, making friends, and then after that, actually making that decision as to whether or not to stay,’ Lee added.
‘I think sometimes I hear people saying “well, we’re going to leave our home in the UK because it’s worth X and buy something cheaper in Spain, and our life’s going to be better”.
‘And it doesn’t always work out, and I don’t really think it’s a surprise you need to kind of do your do your kind of time on the ground and really understand it before you make that big decision as to whether or not you actually want to live there.’
