Georgina Shaw has embraced quality produce, outdoor activities and a better work-life balance on the Costa del Sol

A Londoner who moved to Spain 17 years ago says her health has “wildly” improved because her lifestyle is much less stressful.

Georgina Shaw, 46, believes the relentless pace of life in the UK capital was making her ill, before she decided to accept a job on the Costa del Sol in 2008.

She had been looking for a new PR job in London when a friend suggested she consider working abroad. A few weeks after uploading her CV to a Spanish recruitment agency, she accepted a job offer as a campaigns director of a PR agency and was on her way to the city of Marbella.

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“It was hard to make the decision to leave, but my mum asked how I would feel if I didn’t go,” Shaw told The i Paper. “I knew I’d always regret not trying.”

The 46-year-old with her mother, who has now also moved to Spain (Photo: Georgina Shaw)

Although nervous about the move, she said the contrast between the weather in the province of Málaga in southern Spain and Britain’s wetter, colder climate quickly showed her that she had made the right decision.

“While weather sounds like a small thing, it pervades every part of life,” she said. “When I wake up first thing in the morning and the sky is blue and the sun is shining, it brightens your mood. I have so many memories of being in London and leaving the house in the dark and returning in the dark. I was so affected by darkness and cold, and arriving at work wet, cold, and miserable.”

She recalled waking up on her first morning in Spain, having a cup of coffee on the terrace of a friend’s flat overlooking the sea.

“I thought – this is my life, and I could get used to this,” she said. “I used to walk endlessly up and down the beach, amazed by the place I was now calling home.”

Within a week of moving to Spain, she met Andy, a British man who would become her husband and father to her child, Lucas.

“We set up our own business – Shaw Marketing Services – and moved out of the centre of Marbella to Manilva, when our son was a toddler,” she said. “We live in a townhouse on the outskirts of the village, which is around 25-years-old. We have done work on it to modernise it. We’re a 20-minute walk and a five-minute drive to the beach.

Shaw and her husband, Andy, moved from central Marbella to the nearby village of Manilva, when their son Lucas was a toddler (Photo: Georgina Shaw)

“We wanted a place which offered a more Spanish way of life and a lower cost of living, where our son could connect with the language and the culture.”

Raising a child in a Spanish village, where children are “welcome wherever,” led to a great family dynamic, she added. “We never need babysitters. Kids are just running free in the park, having fun. In any restaurant and most bars, you can take children in.”

Her daily life is completely different from when she was constantly on the go in London.

“I had thought I thrived on stress,” she said. “I got ill in the UK – developing ulcerative colitis. It caused a lot of problems. It took me moving to Spain to realise the stress of my life was detrimental to my health. Being here has wildly improved my symptoms.”

In Spain, people generally want to live a “good life”, and are not as focused on work and success as they often are in the UK, she said.

She says life is much calmer since she left London, and now enjoys a morning coffee from her terrace overlooking the village (Photo: Georgina Shaw)

“People understand the importance of family, living well, and taking it easy,” she said.

This way of living has rubbed off on Shaw, who makes a habit of morning coffees on the terrace, taking her son to school, and logging off by 4pm to spend time with her husband and 13-year-old.

Although she is making less money than she might in the UK, she feels better off because the cost of living is lower, and the weather allows for free, outdoor recreation, including going to the beach for the day.

“We bought our house that we’re in now – a four-bedroom townhouse – for €120,000 (£104,000),” she said, noting that the house is now worth more than twice that amount.

“We recently installed solar panels, and our latest electric bill – which includes the electricity to charge our car – was €30 (£26),” she said.

The 46-year-old says people in Spain are more focused on family, living well, and taking it easy (Photo: Georgina Shaw)

She has found supermarket costs similar to the UK, but the food is much better. “The quality of the ingredients in a standard shop are very high,” she said.

Outstanding wine is significantly cheaper, with Shaw saying she can buy a quality bottle for €6 (£5).

“Our money goes a lot further, and it would go further still in other parts of Spain,” she said. “Of course, you can spend a lot on fine dining, but you can still eat cheaply. With the menu del día [menu of the day] set lunch menus, you can still have a simple three-course meal with beer or wine for €10-€15 (£8-£13).”

Spanish healthcare has been an unexpected benefit of moving, particularly since her parents moved to Spain nearly two years ago.

“As my parents were getting older, I was fearful of what the ageing process would mean for my life here,” she said. “They are getting great healthcare in Spain.

“Sadly, my mum had a stroke in February. She was in the hospital for over a month and was so well looked after. It brought home to me the reason we moved them over – helping them through the challenges of getting older and giving them a great quality of life for their retirement.”

With her work-life balance, her parents close by, and her son in a good school, Shaw says she cannot imagine moving back to the UK.

“We’re here to stay.”