The Tourism-Migration Nexus: Accessing Care and Support as a Retired British National in Spain

INTRODUCTION: The movement of older people from one country to another has been described in a multitude of ways, including ‘Residential Tourism’ and ‘International Retirement Migration’. Tourism is often the stepping stone to retirement migration and many older retirees live fluid lifestyles where home ownership, access to welfare and social networks are maintained across the home and host countries both physically and through technology. OBJECTIVES: This paper focuses on older British people in Spain, and explores the strategies employed to access support in later life. It draws on Grid-Group cultural theory to explore the social network configurations that include the individual, their local and transnational community, as well as the wider socio-cultural context within which they are located. METHODS: The paper draws on data from narrative interviews with 25 older British people in Spain. CONCLUSION: The paper exemplifies four different ‘types’ of social network organization and how these relate to help seeking behavior in later life.