Costa Press Club - November meeting held at
Elviria Oasis, Avda. de las Cumbres, Elviria, Marbella.
Guest Speakers - Mayte Echezarreta & Rafael Durán
The foreign press club on Costa del Sol (Asociación de Prensa de la Costa del Sol – 'Costa Press Club') hosted on Thursday 10th of November a constructive lecture by Mayte Echezarreta and Rafael Durán from the European Monitoring Centre for Retirement Immigration ('Observatorio Europeo de Gerontomigraciones')
During the lecture, Mayte Echezaretta explained the background for this unique investigation team and the purpose of their investigation. Thousand of foreign expats over 65 move from their home countries to Spain and discovers a land with a different culture, law system and another language. Their daily life becomes a struggle with a lot of obstacles and risks of defeats. For that reason the investigation team puts great emphasis to identify these everyday problems and find the best solution to create and maintain a safe and comfortable place for expats to enjoy their retirement.
Rafael Dúran explained the disturbing conclusions of a research project to study the foreign participation in the local elections this year. The majority of expats do not take part in the local politics and prefer to stay away from the polling stations.
After the lecture, members and guests exchanged opinions about the reality for expats, living in Spain, and the best solutions for them to stay and enjoy their retirement here.
Mayte Echezaretta, professor of International Law, and Rafael Dúran, political scientist, are part of an expert team at Malaga University that is unique in Europe. The group is lobbying to increase recognition by European politicians & social groups of the problems retired people face when emigrating to live in another country, especially Spain.
