La Primera Exiliada: Why I Moved to Spain After 2016 US Election

The Spanish press dubbed American expat Marsha Scarbrough “the first exile” in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. But her overseas story really begins before that: Back in 2008, Marsha was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, selling real estate. She had a retirement plan in place. She had bought two houses, fixed them up, and was renting them out. The idea was that they would pay for themselves and would become her nest egg for a comfortable retirement.

Then came the housing crash of 2008. It devasted her finances and ended her real estate career, “I had two rental properties, each $100,000 underwater.” By 2010, she was bankrupt and in foreclosure, “I was 63 with less than nothing, no retirement nest egg, no real estate, and in debt to a friend. I was left with an old laptop, an older car, and a fragment of an IRA, which had never been a big IRA to begin with. I realized I had to move to a country where I could live on my pensions. Although I had nothing, I had no responsibilities. I realized that I was completely free.”

This realization opened up a whole new world of possibilities for Marsha and ultimately led her to a new life in Spain.

Why Spain?

Next, she took a course to get a certificate to teach English and got a part-time job teaching in an English immersion program at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Her students were faculty from affiliated universities in Central America, South America, and Spain.

“I was making a little bit of money, and, more importantly, I was making contacts with people who lived overseas.”

She started traveling during the winter months to visit her former students and scout countries with a lower cost of living. She visited Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, and Puerto Rico.

“I put everything in storage and started traveling during the winter months to places where my former students lived, and where I had some friends. I would travel for three to six months, scouting places out, and then come back to Santa Fe, rent a furnished, short-term rental for six months, get a summer teaching job, and then go off again.”

In 2016, she traveled to visit a former student in Madrid, Spain. She says, “I thought Europe would be too expensive, so it was just a social visit. I was surprised that the cost of living was less than many places I had visited, and the weather was similar to the Southern California of my youth.” She stayed six weeks and explored Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz, and Barcelona, “I found what I was looking for. Sitting in a quiet garden, listening to a splashing fountain, chatting with smart, funny friends felt like where I wanted to be.” Spain had another benefit that sealed the deal: “It’s safe, there are no guns, and there is almost no violent crime. What a relief!”

During that trip, Marsha volunteered at Pueblo Ingles, an English immersion program for adult Spanish professionals, “The Spanish people were warm, intelligent, and helpful. I made new friends.” When she returned to Madrid, she made even more friends. When it was time to leave Spain, she felt sad, “I had about ten friends in Madrid. I knew I could live there.”

The “First Exile”

When she returned to the US, she started researching the requirements she needed to meet to move to Spain. “At that time, the idea of Donald Trump being nominated seemed like a joke. In my world of Los Angeles and Santa Fe, I didn’t know anyone who would vote for him.”

Because she lived in New Mexico, she had to apply for her residency visa in Houston. “His campaign was in full swing by the time I submitted my application. In Texas, I found myself in situations where I was the only one NOT voting for him. By the time my visa was approved, he had been elected. I felt vindicated and happy to have my ticket out of the US. I knew I had done the right thing.”

At 70 years old, she was excited about embarking on a new chapter outside the US.

Marsha was in Los Angeles when she heard her visa had been approved. Coincidentally, one of her friends attended a charity dinner and, by chance, sat with a correspondent for El Mundo, one of Madrid’s newspapers. Marsha’s friend said to him, “Oh? My friend is moving to Madrid.” He asked, “Is she moving because Trump was elected? If so, I want to interview her.”

He interviewed Marsha in his car as he was driving her to the airport so she could fly to Houston to pick up her visa. El Mundo declared her “La Primera Exiliada,” the first exile from Trump’s America. “I was a front-page story in Madrid. All the Spanish-language media immediately picked it up. I was even featured on CNN en Español. My former English students from Chile, Mexico, Honduras, Argentina, and Puerto Rico were emailing me that I was on the front page in their countries. I think I was even on the news in Cuba. Spanish TV news anchors, radio hosts, and other journalists emailed me to set up interviews. By the time I got to Madrid, I was the center of a media frenzy. It was quite a ride.”

Marsha was featured in Spanish-language newspapers, radio shows, and television programs.

Safe, Sunny, Friendly, Good-Value Spain

Seven years later, Marsha is still living happily in Madrid, “I was always politically active in the US. As I was approaching 70, I began to feel that certain issues like guns, homelessness, and affordable healthcare would not be solved in my lifetime. Through travel, I realized that I had the option to move to a country where these problems didn’t exist and simply enjoy my remaining years. I made a smart choice for me. I will always consider myself an American. I will always vote, but I am glad that I don’t live there.”

Besides safety, sunny weather, and friendly people, what Marsha loves about Spain is its first-world infrastructure. “There’s always hot water for a shower. The trash is picked up every night. In Madrid, the sidewalks are power-washed at least once a week. The roads are in great condition. The electricity is on 24/7. You can drink the water from the tap. These are luxuries that you don’t find in every country.”

In addition to an affordable cost of living, Marsha saves even more money because she doesn’t need a car. “Public transportation is clean, comfortable, convenient, and cheap. It goes everywhere I need to go. As a senior resident of Madrid, I get unlimited metro, bus, and urban trains for free! If I need to get home from a night on the town at 3 am, I can take an Uber for around €15/$16.”

Spain’s unique schedule suits Marsha’s lifestyle. Stores don’t open until 10 a.m. Lunch, the main meal of the day, is between 2 and 4 p.m. Many stores close from 2 to 5 p.m. Some people take a siesta after lunch. Dinner starts at 9 p.m. “Everybody stays up late socializing with their friends and sleeps late in the morning. I’m not a morning person, so for me, it’s perfect.”

Marsha says she’s never been happier. “On a typical day, I walk to Pilates or Zumba class in the morning and run errands on the way home. I write most afternoons. In the evenings, I socialize with young Spanish friends over tapas and drinks. On the weekends, I go dancing, to a movie, visit a museum or for a walk in the park. Travel around Spain and all of Europe is easy and inexpensive.

“I don't think any of that would have happened if I stayed in the U.S. I don't think I would have made this brilliant choice and had the courage to make the move if my comfortable little retirement plan had worked out. I think it was the absolute disaster and that low point of my life…bankrupt, foreclosed on, and with nothing…that allowed me to close that door and open this door into a brilliant choice.”