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Celebrate expat life at Madrid’s THRIVE convention

November will see the first THRIVE conference, a one day event designed to explore the expat experience and inspire people to get the best out of living abroad, both personally and professionally.

Published: 18 October 2016 15:30 CEST

Celebrate expat life at Madrid’s THRIVE convention

The THRIVE convention takes place in Madrid. Photo: LMDES

The one-day conference on November 5th welcomes open-minded individuals to come together, learn and grow through a diverse range of panels, workshops, conversations and networking opportunities.

From avid travelers to long-term expats, the attendees are people who are on the path of living their best lives while looking to grow both personally and professionally.

THRIVE will take place at The Shed Co in Madrid, Spain, a creative and modern co-working space chosen as the perfect location to foster meaningful and engaging conversation.

The event is organized by expat entrepreneur Sienna Brown of the hugely successful Las Morenas de España.

The conference is organised by Sienna Brown (R) of Las Morenas De España. Photo: LMDES

“It was organized to show others that you can be successful and grow personally and professionally, no matter where you are based in the world,” she explained.

“There has never been an event like this for the expat community before and it’s an amazing opportunity to come together and learn from those who have already paved the way.

“It’s a chance to show how to make the most of your time and skills to create a life abroad that expands beyond just teaching English,” she said.

The day will include sessions with more than 20 individuals who have created successful lives in their adopted country Spain.

Kay Fabella, will be sharing tips and tricks on how to start a purposeful business. Ryan Turner of Democrats Abroad and Fiona Govan from The Local Spain will be diving into engaging with activism and politics abroad.

Influencer Nia Pettit of Fro Girl Ginny will be talking about self-love and representation. Mar Rodriguez of Escuela Entrelenguas will be sharing how to learn Spanish through cultural immersion.

Are you ready to THRIVE?

Register here to attend the conference.

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Living in Spain: Why Valencia is officially the best city in the world for foreign residents

Valencia tops a ranking of 66 cities in the world for expats. Photo by Giuseppe Buccola on Unsplash

The Mediterranean city in the east of Spain ranks top in the annual Expat Insider Survey published by InterNations.

More than 15,000 expats participated in the survey which analysed 66 cities around the globe during March 2020 in pre-Covid times and before the global pandemic sparked lockdowns.

The survey placed four Spanish cities in the top ten worldwide; Valencia in first place, followed by Alicante (2nd), Málaga (6th), Madrid (9th).

Spanish cities overwhelmingly score high for the ease of settling in and quality of life indices but score less well when it comes to urban work life, because Spain can’t compete on the work opportunities front.

The city of Barcelona lags far behind in 25 place since expat life seems to be most expensive there: it ranks far behind the other Spanish cities in both the Finance & Housing and the Local Cost of Living Indices.

So what’s so great about Valencia?

Photo by travelnow.or.crylater on Unsplash

Well, according to the survey which asked more than 15,000 expatriates representing 173 nationalities and living in 181 countries, the Spanish city scored the best in all five indices but one.

It ranked first worldwide in both the Quality of Urban Living and the Local Cost of Living Indices.

In fact, 94 percent of expats rate the local cost of living positively (compared to 46 percent globally), and 91 percent consider healthcare easily available (vs. 74 percent globally) which places the city first in the Health & Environment subcategory.

The climate is also a big draw with Valencia ranking second in that category thanks to conditions that are not too hot or too dry but with plenty of sunshine and a sea breeze that means summer temperatures usually max out at between 32-35C, far more hospitable than the over 40C found in parts of Andalucia and inland Spain.

Valencia also ranked well for its leisure options (4 in the survey) with vast stretches of beach within the city, the warm Mediterranean to enjoy swimming, watersports and sailing as well lots of parks and bikes routes and hills to explore inland.

Photo by Paul Povoroznuk on Unsplash

It’s also easy to get settled in Valencia. More than four in five expats (84 percent) find it easy to get used to the local culture (vs. 61 percent globally), and 91 percent say that the local residents are generally friendly (vs. 68 percent globally).

And more than four out of five expats in Valencia (82 percent) find that housing is affordable in the city, compared to 41 percent globally.

“The quality of life and the cost of living” are what makes Valencia great, according to one American expat who responded to the survey.

Where Valencia, and indeed all Spanish destinations, score badly is in the Job and Career categories.

Valencia ranks 62 out of 66 in this section with 46 percent of expats living in Valencia admitting that they are unhappy with their local career opportunities.

“Finding employment has always been difficult,” responded a French expat living in Valencia.

But all the reasons that make Valencia a favourite among expats are also found just down the coast in the region’s second city Alicante, which ranks a close number 2 on the list beating Lisbon, Panama City and Singapore.

Malaga appears at number 6 on the global list and Madrid at number 9, although Spain’s capital scores the most points globally for “leisure options”.

Barcelona however doesn’t make it into the top ten or even top 20. In fact it ranks 25th out of 66 cities in the world. Only 53 percent of expats are satisfied with the state of the local economy (vs. 63 percent globally). According to the survey 28 percent of expats in the city are dissatisfied with their financial situation (vs. 21 percent globally), and 67 percent find local housing unaffordable (vs. 41 percent globally).

“I do not like the working conditions, the pay is too low, and the rents are high,” remarked one German expat.

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