Alex Trelinski
A BRITISH expat has caused a stir on TikTok by saying she moved her family to Spain because Britain has ‘gone so downhill’.
32-year-old mortgage broker Megan Hall and her partner Chris Cousins moved to the upmarket Sotogrande urbanisation on the Costa del Sol last summer.
One of their aims was to ensure their three children would get a ‘play-based lifestyle’.
The Tik Tok video pulled no punches about the UK and Megan said that a reliance on using screens and feeling less safe there means there are no plans to return.
Megan contrasted the lifestyles between Spain and Britain, stating that her new country has people who enjoying going out for a meal or a walk around a park, while back home TV viewing dominated over socialising.
Megan, originally from Skipton, said: ‘My son wanted to start walking around the streets with his friends wearing black Nike tracksuits but I wanted to avoid that. That was the main thing.”
‘In the UK it’s all about screens and social media so we decided we wanted to find an environment where parents had the same morals and values as us.”
‘We wanted the kids to have limited screen time, no social media until hopefully aged 16 and a healthy outdoor lifestyle in a play-based childhood.”
‘I think people would be more social if they were in a different environment. The weather doesn’t allow them to be as social.”
Megan decided on moving to Spain when they visited friends who had emigrated before the Covid pandemic.
‘When we went out to Spain we spent a full day with friends who lived there and they showed us around. At that point we were sold.”
‘There’s a massive community here where everyone wants to go out for meals and have coffee mornings. It seems to be a lot more social.”
Megan’s TikTok post, which has more than 8,000 views, said: “You’re watching the UK go downhill so you try to change your children’s childhood experience.”
One user commented: “Wow, incredible. I’d love to do this one day!”
