Spain Europe’s top country for making expats feel at home, finds survey

The warm welcome one receives when moving to Spain is not just restricted to the hot gush of air that hits you as you step on to the tarmac at Málaga airport – it is increasingly found in the people you meet as you embark on a new life overseas.

A recent survey by HSBC Expat has ranked Spain as the most welcoming country in Europe when it comes to making new arrivals feel welcome…

The Expat Explorer survey, which polled 22,000 people globally last year, asked expats to rate the country in which they live in terms of offering a friendly face, a warm welcome and an easy introduction to life in a new country.

The top ten results were surprising, with the small kingdom of Bahrain earning top spot, with 66% of respondees saying that, as expats, they have been made to feel very welcome in the country. India ranked second, with Malaysia in third, and the top ten was dominated by far eastern destinations, with only Mexico, Russia and Spain breaking the Oriental monopoly.

Coming in at eighth place overall, with a score of 56% – above the global average of 48% – Spain was the only European country to feature, which is a testament to its ability to maintain a welcoming and open front in the face of increasing pressures across Europe, particularly where immigration is concerned.

The HSBC Expat questionnaire found that new technology, such as social media platforms that enable people to connect, has helped to make it easier for new expats to settle into their chosen country, while for Spain specifically the fact that there is already a sizeable expat community, especially in the popular Costa del Sol region, certainly helps Brits in particular to settle in much more quickly than they perhaps would in other European destinations.