US nationals run to reject roots in Madrid, because the most important capital in Europe is a refuge for “Trump Refugees” who want to escape from the US president.
The approach has already encouraged the division of the wealth of the US-Spanish and remote work from the Pandemia Coid-19, but the Americans have overfilled it by wanting life away from the turbulence Donald TrumpAnother term.
“The level of interest was amazing,” said Federico González, founder of the GS Legal Consulting, who did the job of the Americans counseling Spain. “I can hardly keep up.”
The wave of arrivals is the latest sign that Madrid, long -underrated abroad, enjoys what his leaders call “the moment” – as foreigners are lured by his art, fine foodConviviality and penetrating sunlight.
Living costs are also a fraction of other major cities, including London and Paris. Americans with American salaries or savings are an agog who found 55 percent of croissants in Mercadon’s supermarket and good glasses of wine for only 3 euros.
For González, investigations into American clients began to grow in 2023. When Trump passed a Republican presidential nomination last March, the progress turned into a rush. “People were very worried. And now there are a lot here in Spain. They started to arrive,” he said.
By mid-2024, the number of Americans living in the Madrid region has already hit almost 10,000 more than the 35 percent from mid-2018, despite the pandemic decline, according to migration ministries. Since then, applications for the stay have continued to accumulate, especially for the so -called “digital nomad” visas.
Facebook forums that include the self -proclaimed “Trump Refugee Refugees” are buzzing the relocation tips. The Madrid American school reports on great interest from California, Colorado and Florida. And in a city that is angry with the Padel, Americans gather to play Pickkleball, a sporting sport that is unknown to most Spaniards.
Sunny Lee, Korean-American, moved to Madrid from Atlanta with her husband and two children in 2023, a relocation that took on a new meaning after Trump’s election victory. “It was just a whim, and on the basis of the current political climate it was a very good whim,” she said. “At this point, I have a zero desire to return to the United States. What is happening there gives me so much anxiety, especially as a family of color. Especially as a woman.”
Selena Templeton, a Canadian-American writer and editor, arrived from Los Angeles last summer and became a role model for trouble friends. “They say: Trump is chosen. It’s shit in this country. I want to leave. How did you do that?”
Knowledge of Spain, however, remains stain. Trump himself suggested last month that it was a member of the BRICS BRICS Economy.
Jeremy Scheck, 24, the author of a cookbook who moved to Madrid from New York last year, said: “Outside this well -missed, coastal bubble, there are still a lot of tropics from Mexican culture that are projected to Spanish culture. I always get questions like: Is Spanish food spicy? “
For many years, if Spain brought to the mind of any city, it was Barcelona. But the protests against tourism were knocked out of many buckets last year. For those eager to learn or polish their Spanish, the distribution of Catalan in the regional Catalonia capital also opposes.
The new magnet is Madrid, whose city area is home nearly 7 million. Last year, thanks to more flying relationships and marketing by the Regional Government, more than 1 Mn of US visitors came to the city – twice the British arrivals.
New inhabitants say mildly that Madrid combines the buzz of a big city with a sense of comfort. They enjoy his walk, architecture and the absence of active exercises of shooters in their children’s schools. They love the Spaniards because they are warm and chatty, but not, as one said, “in your business.”
There is even a Hollywood contingent: Richard Gere and Amber Heard both made the city with their home.
A new path has been opened for potential immigrants with a digital nomad Vis, which resides for citizens who are not EU who work from a non-Spanish entity home. They also need an annual revenue of at least 33,000 euros.
2023, the first year of Visa, Spain issued more than 9,500 people from different countries. Many were for the West Coast software engineers, but they also went to US Government performers, accountants and people like Scheck, who is also an impact on food on social networks.
Imagining events home, he said, “He definitely feels like a relief that is removed a little further from the daily highlights and downs.”
Kai Bryant, Head of the Draft Spain, a relocation agencies, said that at the end of their working life he was in exams of Americans who were concerned about Medicare and their pensions. “They say: I don’t feel comfortable going to the US. What are my options?” He said. “Some are a little wrong and ask if they can apply for asylum. But it just shows despair.”
The Spanish Golden Visa program, which is available to anyone investing 500,000 euros in property, was popular with Americans who approach retirement, said Alen Lesina, American leader Astons, an immigration adviser. But in April, the new applicants will be close to the new applicants.
American arrivals do not have a wealth Latin American elite that moved to Madrid. But there is a daily wealth in parts of the US that becomes eyes for the eyes when it is transferred to Spain.
The average annual salary in the Madrid region is around 32,000 euros. González, a lawyer, said his clients mostly earn between $ 120,000 and $ 200,000. Those who sell assets purchased 10 or 20 years ago, whether the California mansion or Amazon or Nvidia shares come with millions at the bank.
But every new country brings its challenges. The Americans admire Madrid with a late meal and strict opinions on what should be consumed when. “I love Vermouth here, but if I order it when it’s not just before dinner, I get these prospects,” Templeton said.
Some also lack the comfort and modernity of the home. “When we first came here, I felt like I was coming from the future,” Lee said. “In the future, we have pads to unlock our doors, instead of these keys that look like they are for the castle.”
Keith Fray data visualization
