Europe’s South offers a warm welcome to energy migrants

The average winter temperature is 20 degrees Celsius (68°F) in Canary Island, launched a social media campaign in September to attract remote workers and retired people from countries including Britain, Germany and Sweden. Other southern European countries also see the potential.

He is not alone in pursuing a warmer, cheaper way of life as tourist boards across southern Europe have seized on the cost-of-living crisis to advertise the benefits of wintering abroad to those living in more northerly countries.

“The economic crisis and mostly the war situation have pushed me here,” said Varmalov, who is Russian by birth.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February drove some energy prices to record levels in August. They have eased, but are likely to stay high and have led to painful levels of inflation.

What he now saves, he spends on eating out, he said, and also enjoys beach walks in his lunch breaks.

“The reality is better than my expectations,” he said.

“It is no secret this will be a winter of great economic uncertainty in Europe but in the Canary Islands, we want to turn the situation around,” said Yaiza Castilla, the regional tourism chief, describing the islands as an “economic refuge”.

Other southern European countries also see the potential.

The Greek tourism minister in September visited Austria and northern European countries, such as Sweden, to “turn this huge energy crisis plaguing Europe into an opportunity”.

Portugal’s tourism board has also campaigned and its head Luis Araujo said expectations for winter tourists from northern Europe were “very positive”.

Tourism data supports his optimism.

Data collected for Reuters by home rental search engine HomeToGo showed that compared to last year, searches from countries such as Britain, Germany and the Netherlands rose 36%, 13% and 3% for winter accommodation in Spain, Greece and Portugal, respectively.

Gabriel Escarrer, CEO of Spanish hotel chain Melia, said people are booking apartments and suites for two or three months this winter in the Canary Islands, with a notable presence of Scandinavian visitors.

Visitors and more permanent residents are also arriving from Germany, which was highly dependent on Russian gas before the Ukraine war and is anxious about possible winter energy shortages.

Among schools enrolling more students from abroad, the German school in Gran Canaria received 40 applications from foreign students this year, which it said was higher than in previous years without giving precise figures.

“The current rising prices are a reason for many people to move further south,” he said. “This island is a refuge for the winter.”

Airlines will increase by 31% the number of seats available to the Canary Islands, the regional tourism office said.

The leading airline operating between Germany and the Canary Islands, said it would increase flights by around 10%, adding in statement energy costs were “a psychological element” in pushing more people south.

However, for the majority of northern Europeans, heading south is just a dream when the rise in living costs means they cannot afford the luxury of travel.

Instead they are stocking up on goods to keep themselves warm such as duvets, slow cookers and electric blankets, retail sales figures in Britain show.