Two Brits have revealed how their plans to retire to Spain went disastrously wrong, leaving them homeless and living “in a field”.
The skint pair have little choice but to “semi-squat” in the garden of a derelict property. Grandmother Paula Briers, 52, and her husband Rob Briers, 60, moved to Benidorm in 2020 after their plans to relocate to the city of Granada were scuppered by the first Covid lockdown.
The couple, who both left their jobs at the giant Coalville Amazon warehouse for a life in the sun, found a plot for their caravans in Benidorm’s Villamar campsite.
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Animal fosterer Paula discovered the site was crawling with feral cats when they arrived and agreed to find suitable homes for as many as possible.
(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
The mum-of-six told the Express: “In Villamar we just said ‘look, we’ll help you out, sort out the cats’ and we had a little table on our plot where people used to come and give donations and things.”
Paula, who is originally from Bournemouth, claimed that she and her husband, who is from Leicester, managed to get the cat population down dramatically but were then evicted from the campsite, reports the Express.
She said: “We got the cats down from over 1,000 to about 200.”
After being booted from the campsite, the couple had a rough time “bouncing around” and even ended up sleeping rough. It was during this low point that British musician and charity boss Johnny Elraiz, aka Jonny Hellraizer, stumbled upon them and lent a helping hand.
Paula recounted: “He found us, I think in October two years ago. We were in a field.”
(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
She continued: “After we got kicked off the Villamar we literally slept in a field… behind a bush.”
“Obviously we didn’t know Jonny then. In fact we knew him as an entertainer. We didn’t really know what he did. And he just came and found us and then from there he started bringing us food and that.”
With Elraiz’s support, the pair managed to secure a quirky new abode. They now reside in an outhouse on a derelict property, surrounded by their lively dogs and numerous cats but only during the summer months.
Come winter, they retreat to a caravan parked in the garden of the same property.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, they revealed they pay the landlady €150 (£126) for the privilege of staying on her land, where they also maintain the once wild and cacti-infested garden.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
“We’re hoping to stay here because the landlady’s lovely”, Paula expressed. “And obviously she’s pleased that she’s got a garden now, not just a jungle.”
Despite their Spanish retirement dreams not panning out, Paula and Rob remained optimistic about their lot.
“There’s always somebody worse off than us. You know, I stay positive. There’s a lot of people out there who are a damn sight worse off than us.”
Mr Elraiz, the guitar-strumming frontman of Benidorm metal band White Coast Rebels, shared with the Express that his charity, City Streets Community Project, feeds up to 70 locals daily, including “semi-squatters” like Paula and Rob.
“Daily, we’ve been feeding around 60 to 70 people”, he revealed. Among them, “around 15” are British.
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