“I need a renovation team.” “I'll pick it up from the airport and clean it up.” “Does anyone have the location of a lawyer who will help me buy an apartment?” Such announcements or requests for advice can be read on the forum bringing together Poles in Torrevieja in the south Spain.
The website also advertises a so-called “handyman” who will open doors and repair locks if necessary. Others are looking for a hairdresser, manicurist or lawyers. Still others are accountants or companies that will install television with Polish channels. No wonder there is a common saying that it is “Costa”. Poland“. According to data from the authorities of the city of Torrevieja near Alicante in the province of Valencia, half of the 100,000 inhabitants are foreigners. Among them are Poles.
“There are more of us than the statistics show”
The authorities of Torrevieja boast that the city, thanks to new arrivals, exceeded 100,000 inhabitants in February this year. Ukrainians (over 7,500) and Russians (5,800) are in the lead. Most Ukrainians and Russians were already here before the Russian aggression in 2022. Poles are also eager to settle here – almost a thousand of our compatriots have bought apartments or houses in recent years.
– In my opinion, there are two or three times more Poles than the official statistics indicate – Monika Meduna from “Polska Costa” tells Interia. It is a newspaper published online and in a paper version, from which Poles can get useful information about life in Spain.
– Unlike Russians and Ukrainians, we do not have to register, we stay on the Iberian Peninsula legally as citizens European Union. Russians and Ukrainians must register their stay at the office, which is why they are included in the statistics. Poles can buy real estate, but they do not have to live in it or stay there occasionally. Many people do not register here because then they do not have to pay taxes, and the taxes in Spain are higher than in Poland – explains Monika Meduna.
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According to data from the city hall, there are about a thousand Poles in Torrevieja, and over five thousand in nearby Orihuela. There are several such towns in the province of Valencia. Therefore, it can be estimated that up to several thousand Poles live here.
– There are apartment buildings or housing estates in which the percentage of Poles is very noticeable – says Patrycja Karoń, who has been living in Torrevieja for two and a half years and sells real estate, tells Interia. – My clients say that apartment prices in Poland are already comparable to those in Spain, so they prefer to have one in Spain. They also buy because of the war Ukraine and fears that it may spread to us. In my community, out of about 40 apartments, there are six apartments bought by Polish families – adds Patrycja Karoń.
You only need to walk the streets of Torrevieja for half an hour to see cars with Polish registration plates, from every province. You can hear the Polish language everywhere. Poles once joked that London and the surrounding area were the “seventeenth Polish voivodeship” due to the number of our compatriots who moved there. Now we are strongly marking our presence in Spain.
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Dumplings and cream cakes in Spain
– I didn't expect to see cheesecake or cream cakes in Spain today – I say to Grzegorz and Emilian, who run the Flamenco cafe-patisserie in Torrevieja. They have been in the city for a year, their clients are mainly Poles. – But we have cream cakes just like the Pope's – the owners emphasize with a smile.
There is also no shortage of other Polish specialties in Torrevieja, e.g. dumplings. – Today we serve potato pancakes – says Paulina from the Manekin restaurant, located a few hundred meters from the Polish cafe.
– It's only worse with carp at Christmas Christmas. We then replace it with advice – Poles on Spanish soil explain to Interia.