HAVE you ever enjoyed your summer holidays so much you wished you could stay forever?
That’s exactly what Dubliner Sophie Lyons Wilson’s family did when she was just nine – and now a mum herself, she’s positive she won’t be leaving her beloved new home in Spain.
Sophie, 23, says her parents decided to make the move in 2010 after they realised the family was “so much happier” when on their Spain vacations.
She told the Irish Sun: “We were much happier over here, the days felt brighter and we seemed to have more time.
“When we came over it was such a time for friends and family, we were together and we just knew that life would stay like that when we moved over here.”
And once she met her partner Dylan, they knew Spain was where they wanted to raise their daughter, five, and one-year-old son.
The mum-of-two, originally from Malahide, hailed the quality of life in Malaga and said there’s a “huge difference” to Ireland.
Living just a 10 minute drive from stunning Marbella, Sophie and her kids enjoy countless beach days and hours spent having fun in playgrounds and activities.
Sophie said: “100 per cent there is a huge difference of the quality of life for us since moving.
“Just for my kids and all, they seem to grow up a little bit slower over here and that is one of my favourite things.
“There is a lot of pressure for kids to start drinking young, smoking and partying.
“Whereas over here you still see 14-year-olds in playgrounds and that is one of my favourite things about it, I like that my kids just stay kids a little while longer.”
Sophie shares her experiences on her TikTok account – @Sophielyonswilsonn – with a series of videos giving an insight into a day in the life as an Irish native living in Spain.
Sophie and Dylan both speak Spanish – with Dylan, who was born in Spain to Northern Irish parents, running a bar for work.
When it comes to costs, Sophie said despite a rise in prices since the pandemic, “it’s still so much cheaper” than in Ireland.
She said: “For us, we are a family of four and the weekly shop averages between €100 to €250 a week.
“It used to be a lot cheaper but then Covid hit and there’s been a small increase but it’s still so much cheaper than back home.”
The family rent a two-bedroom apartment for €1,200 a month, with Sophie admitting rent can be an issue in the area.
However she still reckons it is better value than renting back home in Dublin.
And paired with the stellar quality of life, Sophie says she’ll “never leave”.
EASY DECISION
She explained: “Just for the quality of life here, playgrounds open till 8pm, sky is brighter, my weekends are packed full of activities with beaches, pools and zoos.
“And with rent, the prices back home I’d probably never leave here.“
And praising healthcare in Spain, Sophie said: “Once you have a job over here the healthcare is free and I couldn’t fault it.
“We also had private health insurance, for the four of us I pay €170 a month and that’s full coverage.
“I had both of my babies via C-section and they cover everything, if we ever need surgery, honestly I feel like it’s the best money I could spend.”
Primary and secondary public schools are free in the region, with Sophie’s daughter still in creche costing the family €300 a month.
Sophie said: “We had a private nursery for my daughter and it cost €300 a month and that was for her to be there from 9-5.
“With her there five full days a week, you can’t even compare it back home.”
But they are challenges too, one being the loneliness.
MISSING HOME
Sophie explained: “You take for granted living close to your relatives.
“And we were so close to our family, we would see them at least three or four times a week, so to come here not speak a word of the language and only have each other was quite lonely.
“Friends that we made, they come and go here as they move over for a few years and then they might move back home.
“So we would lose a lot of friends over the years, which created the lonely side of things.”
But she has since learned the language and immersed herself in the culture, calling locals her “second family”.
And Sophie is not alone among Irish people who’ve taken the plunge to make Spain their forever home, as Jessica Baker-Daza also told us.
And it’s a case of work imitating life, as the Spain expert now runs her own company to assist other expats who are planning to relocate to the sun.
