Man who lives in Barcelona and commutes back to UK says it’s cheaper than living in London

"Frankly, it’s cheaper than some of my colleagues who used to commute from Reading."

Ethan Spibey, 33, moved to the Spanish city with his husband Soren Scharf, 35, in May last year.

The former PR director decided to quit his 9-to-5 job in the English capital back in December 2024.

Six months later, he and his husband Soren sold their semi-detached home in Lewisham and rented a penthouse duplex in the Catalan capital for £1,700 a month – far cheaper than their former £2,500 monthly mortgage.

Now, Ethan has set up his own company to provide communications training for clients across the UK including the Post Office, Siemens, and charities.

Despite his company’s London base, Ethan works remotely from Barcelona and flies back to Britain for meetings two or three times a month.

Ethan, who is fluent in Spanish, said: “I studied in Barcelona, and we’d come back here every single year.

“I did a logistics check. The criteria were: can I fly back to London regularly, are there flights? There are about 25 flights a day to London.

“It is economically possible? Is it mentally and physically exhausting to do so?

“Barcelona seemed like a great option. Frankly, it’s cheaper than some of my colleagues who used to commute from Reading.”

Ethan, who is originally from Manchester, says he typically spends £60 and has never paid more than £100 return for flights back to the British capital – cheaper than his former monthly rail ticket cost of £120.

He says that commuting back to London is a breeze – with it taking just half an hour to get to the airport, followed by a two-hour flight.

He said: “It’s not even just the big costs – it’s far cheaper to live, the housing is cheaper than London, but it’s everything else.

“The quality of great food, great fruit and veg – going out for dinners and lunches, which I’d never have done in London.

“There’s no way you can go out for dinner in London and get away with £80 or £100, some of the restaurants near us, it’s £30 for lunch for the two of you.

“It is just a completely different quality of life.

“I was just ready for a change after 12 years in London.

“Our food bill has plummeted – you can’t go to Tesco without spending £50 on dinner somehow it seems; the quality and standard of food here is far better.

“I know for a fact we’ve halved our monthly costs that we used to put on our credit card.

“I know what we put on our credit card each month in London, we now pay less than half of that.”

The Brit, who received an OBE in the 2026 honours list after mounting a campaign for LGBT+ equality in blood donations, was able to move to the Spanish city thanks to his husband’s German citizenship, meaning he was eligible for a spouse visa.

One unexpected side-effect of moving, however, has been the large number of stamps in Ethan’s passport.

He said: “I’m having to fly to Liverpool in two weeks and go for an emergency passport appointment so I can get a quick one-day turnaround.

“I realised at Christmas I’d filled up my passport, as they keep stamping in and out.

“That’s a slight drawback, but it’s the price you have to pay.

“I’ve had this passport since 2019 and never thought about it, but last time they said ‘you’ve not got many spaces left’.”

Since moving and starting his own business, Ethan has even been able to reduce his hours to four days a week.

He added: “The immense mental shift in the time, independence, and quality of life that I have now, versus what I had in London, has just been the most eye-opening realisation.

“Not just to be in such a beautiful city, with beautiful weather, and the community and people that are here, but I have far more time than I ever had to spend time on fitness and spend time with friends.

“The ability to be in charge of your own time is kind of scary, because you have to make money, but it’s also incredibly liberating.

“I think I’ve found that really, really empowering.”