![\"Jade](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_i-ditched-uk-fo-1407711.jpg\")
Jade Gartshore and husband Edward Partis in Murcia, Spain(Image: Jade Gartshore\/SWNS)<\/p>\nThey said they had no plans to leaveJade Gartshore and husband Edward Partis in Murcia, Spain(Image: Jade Gartshore\/SWNS)<\/p>\n
A couple ditched the UK for Spain, where a glass of wine is \u20ac3.50 – around \u00a33 – and there are free concerts every night. They says it feels like a “permanent holiday”.<\/p>\n
Jade Gartshore, 25, had a successful career, but says it didn’t give her “enough” fulfilment and she struggled with the “dark” days. After travelling with her husband Edward Partis, 25, an electrical engineer, she fell in love with the Spanish city of Murcia. Jade ditched her job to move out last November and said they can’t seem themselves “moving back to the UK”.<\/p>\n
Jade said: “I used to sit in the office and used to look out and think, this can’t be life, you know, every day going to work in the dark and coming back in the dark. I was always doing very well in my job, but it just didn’t give me enough.<\/p>\n
“It’s like a permanent holiday, I wake up feeling a lot happier and often have those pinch me moments where I still can’t believe I live here. We have a free concert every night. It\u2019s different in each town.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019ll have jazz, you\u2019ll have disco, techno – they\u2019ll just be on the seafront – and it\u2019s all put on by the council. That\u2019s where some of your money goes, which is a nice feeling. You can get a glass of wine for \u20ac3.50, which is crazy, but your day-to-day shopping can be pretty much the same as the UK.”<\/p>\n
Jade and Edward, who are from Leicester, went travelling for six months in 2023 and spent five weeks of it in Murcia, where Jade’s parents retired to. The couple carried on travelling in Asia, but couldn’t stop thinking about Spain.<\/p>\n
Jade said: \u201cThe whole six months we were just working out ways how to get back to Spain and we just completely fell head over heels for it. The conversation just kept coming back to Murcia that we kind of loved it and both felt exactly the same way, which was really lucky.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, growing up in the UK, I always felt like it wasn\u2019t my home. When I was 16, I was going to California on holiday by myself to see friends and when I was 19 we tried to live in Australia, but it just wasn\u2019t for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I just feel like, my whole life, I\u2019ve just known that the UK is not for me. It can be scary, but definitely making the jump in your 20s is a perfect time.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jade](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_i-ditched-uk-fo-1407708.jpg\")
Jade ditched her job to move out last November and said they can’t seem themselves “moving back to the UK”(Image: Jade Gartshore\/SWNS)<\/p>\n
Jade was on the path to being promoted as a manager in her estate agency job, but decided to \u201cmake the jump\u201d and live a new life elsewhere.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI was completely petrified, I had this great job, and my collegial manager wanted me to become a manager. I just left it all behind because it didn\u2019t feel right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people here, especially in Murcia, are just so kind. I’ve always wanted to live by the sea, but Murcia also has the mountains where you can go on hikes. It’s very outdoor living, which is right up my street.”<\/p>\n
Despite free events hosted by the council, Jade wanted to break the misconception that it is a lot cheaper to live abroad than it is in the UK.<\/p>\n
She said: “I think people have the perception that it is quite cheap here, especially when you come on holiday, but it’s mainly the alcohol that’s a big difference.”<\/p>\n
Jade, who is currently looking for work, explained how rent and bills were also similar, as “it fluctuates as to where you live”.<\/p>\n
“Some places near us are more expensive than what you’d rent in the UK and you get less for your money, but then some areas you get more for your money, depending on location,” she said.<\/p>\n
Murcia is located in south-eastern part of the country and is the seventh largest city in Spain. It is known as \u201cthe fruit basket of Spain\u201d due to its fruits, vegetables and flower production.<\/p>\n
Jade said: “The fruit and vegetables are so much bigger and they just have so much more flavour. Our diet hasn’t changed drastically because I feel like it’s difficult to just quickly change. So we’d still have our basic meals that we’d have in the UK, but you just feel better.”<\/p>\n
![\"After](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_i-ditched-uk-fo-1407709.jpg\")
After travelling with her husband Edward, Jade said she fell in love with the Spanish city Murcia(Image: Jade Gartshore\/SWNS)<\/p>\n
She can also go and visit the local farmers and do tours to see the produce for as cheap as \u20ac12. Jade\u2019s parents moved to the city two years ago for retirement and the couple are currently staying with them until their big move to their new apartment 15 minutes from the beach. The couple have noticed one specific cultural difference in Spain compared to the UK.<\/p>\n
Jade said: \u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed is that people don\u2019t just want to do stuff on the weekend, they\u2019ll happily make plans every day, even if it\u2019s just a walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the beginning of her move, she was \u201cquite concerned\u201d about how lonely living abroad could be, but has found that she now has \u201cmore friends here than in the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n