The Sunday Times May 22, 2022 15“It was easier, admin-wise,
moving from the UK to Hong
Kong and we could do it all
ourselves. In Mallorca it has all
been made more complicated
because of Brexit. We had a
Mallorcan company helping us
navigate the complexities of
work visas, dealing with our
residency and setting me up as
an autonomo [self-employed],”
Walder says.
Jenny Hunt, a psychology
teacher at MIS, moved to
Mallorca from Plymouth with
her husband, Paul, and their
dog, Daisy, last October. They
are renting in Sa Pobla while
they renovate a townhouse
in Pollensa. “It has cost us
thousands of pounds more to
be here than if we had applied
pre-Brexit,” she says. “If you
want to work here you need
to have a golden visa, which
means you have to invest at
least €500,000 cash in a
property. The 90/180-day rule
was difficult when we were
house-hunting too. We had to
go back to the UK for a while
to enable our days to be
accumulated.”
Red tape aside, Mallorca
has delivered the “quiet, calm
life” she was looking for. “If
you want a big social life then
it is definitely for the taking,
but our aim here is to have a
simple but lovely life.”the Born area with a balcony
overlooking the cathedral.”
Adrienne Walder, 50,
a freelance marketing
consultant, had a less positive
experience of Palma estate
agents when she and her
husband, David, 42, moved
there from Hong Kong earlier
this year. “We found a rental
property we loved and put
down a deposit. The contract
was so biased to the owner
that it left us worryingly
exposed. We couldn’t sign it
and they refused to make
changes or give our money
back,” Walder says. “Lesson
learnt: for the next property
we asked to see the rental
contract before handing over
any money.”
Now the couple rent an
apartment in the Palma
suburb of Sant Agusti for
€1,100 per month, and hope to
buy a place when they are
more familiar with the island.
Until then Walder is working
on improving her Spanish.
“I have definitely found it
a hindrance arriving here
without being able to
communicate or understand
the language. At the moment
I’m only really fluent in
restaurant Spanish,” she says.
Bureaucracy is another
headache for Brits who have
made the move post-Brexit.in Moscari — “providing we get
permission,” adds Morrow,
who is also founder of
be-overseas.com, which
helps people moving to the
Balearics. Relocating with
children has eased them into
life on the island. “There’s an
amazing social life and the
kids are always invited
because most people don’t
have families here to help
with childcare.”
After school the children
play in a large park opposite
while the parents chat in the
adjacent bar. “It’s the same as
the UK really, but as most
parents are working UK hours,
we have time in the morning
for a coffee and catch-up
before work.”It helps to rent first to be in
a position to spot buying
opportunities. “If you know
the island and you’re willing
to live somewhere up-and-
coming, there are bargains,”
says Sophie Morrow, a
42-year-old public relations
consultant who moved from
Norwich with her husband
and two children. They rent
a house in Campanet, north
of the centre of the island.
“The mountains are behind,
the sea in front, and every
generation comes together in
the placa [town square]. It
feels like how life should be.”
Their “next big project” is
to renovate a house, and two
other small buildings, that
they are buying for €350,000
Becky Roberts, 50, a PR and
events director who left
Hackney in east London for
Palma in February, has found
friends through sport. She’s
training for her Padi diving
certification and is on the
waiting list for the Palma Sport
& Tennis Club.
“Good properties get
snapped up really quickly,
particularly as the summer
season approaches and
landlords can start hiking up
prices. You need to make an
offer and move quickly if you
find somewhere you like,” she
says. “Morcas estate agency
helped me find a small short-
let flat in the Old Town while I
searched for something more
suitable. Now I live in a flat inProperties for
sale include this
villa, far left, in
Port de Pollença
for €1.95 million
and, left, a finca
near Son Servera
for €3.9 million,
both via Kyero.
Left inset: Becky
Roberts left
Hackney for
Palma in
February