Charlie Mullins, in his first exclusive Olive Press column, reveals that the life of an expat in Spain is better than the tax grind in London.

By Charlie Mullins

My many friends and haters from the UK as well as my many Spanish and UK friends know that I live in Puerto Banus permanently. 

I’m in love with the place and can’t remember a single reason I didn’t move here 10 years ago.

The UK is full of false information about me being a tax exile. But anyone with a half-brain knows that the Spanish are very good at finding ways to get more Euros from their citizens, and especially us expats.

I have paid a lot of tax in the past, but with Labour leading the way, I decided that enough was enough. They won’t get any more money from me to spend on hotels for illegal migrants and crazy schemes for minority groups, while taxing workers and businesses to death.

It was the last straw. Now that I am here, the world is much better. 

I’ve lived in a Spanish villa for over twenty years. It’s amazing that it took me so long before I realized the benefits of a beach, the sound of the ocean and the lack of traffic noise in London.

It occurred to me soon after upping sticks and leaving Blighty that I had more friends here than I did in the place I’d called ‘home’ for 70 odd years… and a bit more thinking about this fact with a drink beside my pool, and it became obvious why. 

Life isn’t about just surviving. It’s about fighting for what you want. And then fighting even harder to keep it.

In London, if you start a conversation on the train or in the street with a stranger, they will think you are a lunatic or that you intend to rob them. 

The other day, I was walking up the steep hill behind my villa when an elderly woman struggled to get up. 

As I got closer, I said something about the Bastard Hill so she wouldn’t be startled. We were still talking ten minutes later. 

It’s a simple example but it shows me how much better the quality of life and pace is on the costas for people to enjoy and live. 

Maybe it’s because the people who moved here are nicer and more decent.

It’s a pleasure to have the time to meet up with friends for a cup of coffee or a beer. It’s great! 

The fact that I can go back to the UK in a matter of hours means I don’t miss my family, but they still keep showing up and taking over.

When I left, I said I would not return to the UK until Labour’s imbeciles were thrown out of power. But as my anniversary approaches, I’m beginning to wonder if even a sensible government could lure me back.

Charlie Mullins OBE is a British businessman. He is the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, London’s largest independent plumbing company, which he sold in 2021