The Spanish town turned UK expat hotspot where one-in-eight residents are Brits

Many seek out the familiarity of English-speaking destinations such as Australia (1.3 million) the US (700,000) and Canada (530,000). Others, meanwhile, seek out more of a radical change of lifestyle.

Drawn by the weather, the food or the prospect of an after-lunch siesta, just over 300,000 Brits bask in the Spanish sun year-round.

The attraction of paella and Tempranillo is so strong in some towns and cities that some are now home to far more of one’s compatriots than you might expect.

Express.co.uk has compiled a list of Spanish getaways with the highest proportions of British expats.

READ MORE: Expat claims ‘quality of life in Spain is far superior’ despite low wages

Benidorm may be the most well-known holiday hotspot of the sun-kissed Costa Blanca coast – running 120 miles along southeastern Spain’s Mediterranean shore – but Brits wanting to settle do so a little further south in Orihuela.

Divided between the seaside resort of Orihuela Costa boasting Blue Flag beaches with crystal clear waters and a picturesque medieval old town a short drive inland, it has a combined population of just under 80,000.

Some 10,000 of these are UK nationals – 12.7 percent of the total or one in eight – making Orihuela the expat capital of France and Spain.

The number two spot goes to a town at an even hotter latitude – Mijas in Andalucia. A typical white-washed Andalusian village nestled in a mountainside surrounded by coastal sprawl, 9.9 percent of its population is British – one-in-ten.

In third place comes the town of Calvia, on the Balearic island of Majorca. Over a third of its residents are foreigners, and 7.9 percent of them are British. With over 800 years of history, rocky cliffs and sandy beaches, it’s easy to see why.

Fuengirola on the Malaga region’s Costa del Sol is fourth (6.7 percent). A centre of culture, with the medieval Moorish Sohail Castle towering over the coastline, the town regularly hosts concerts, festivals and a medieval market in summer.

This is followed by nearby Torrevieja (5.7 percent), Estepona (5.7 percent) and Benidorm (4.9 percent).

According to the UN, some 1.3 million Brits live in the EU. While Brexit has undoubtedly added to the bureaucratic workload for many expats, very few have actually been kicked back across the Channel as a result of the UK’s withdrawal. In total, the EU removed just 2,610 British nationals in 2021 and 2022.