'I'm a British pensioner living homeless in Spain - this is why landlords turf you out'

By Emily Wright, World News Reporter

FILE PICTURE - A British expat now sleeps in Malaga Airport after being priced out of accomodation in Spain. (Image: Getty)

It's many British expats' dream for their retirement - leaving behind the grey skies of the UK for sunnier climates on Spain's southern coast. However, for John Brownwood, the dream has become a nightmare.

The 69-year-old retiree left the UK 15 years ago but is now one of some 50 people—around 15 of whom are thought to be British—living rough in the Malaga Airport, dubbed "zombies." Due to unaffordable rental prices in many of Spain's tourist hotspots, including Marbella, Torremolinos and Benalmadena, hundreds of people now make their home inside the Costa del Sol airport terminal.

Landlords have realised they can make much more money offering their properties as short-term rentals to holidaymakers. (Image: Getty)

Short-term rentals, like those available on Airbnb, have now become a more popular option for Spanish landlords, who have realised that they can make more money by letting at much higher rates for just a couple of months a year to holidaymakers instead of offering the traditional 12-month contracts to Spanish tenants.

As a result, people like Mr Brownwood, who were once able to afford to rent year-round, are priced out of the accommodation during the summer and resort to take up residence on airport floors. The pensioner has been living "on and off" in Malaga Airport for the last 15 years.

"You just do your best and try to keep yourself decent, I nip into the toilets when it's quiet first thing and have a bit of a wash, there's no showers but there are sinks and the water is warm," Mr Brownwood told MailOnline. "I just have to hope no one comes in and gets a shock when they see me standing there.

"The key thing is to get something soft to sleep on because the floor is so hard and uncomfortable, cardboard is good but anything else soft that I can find I will put into the trolley."

John Brownwood saves up his pension and rents a place by the coast once the tourists leave after the summer season. (Image: Getty)

The British expat, who took early retirement in the early 2000s and left "rainy Lancashire" for sunnier weather, does receive a pension from the UK, but he lets it build up for a few months and then goes to the bank and rents a place to live by the coast for the remainder of the year.

"That can be around 400 Euro for the month but then when summer comes along the owners turf you out because they know they can get more from the holidaymakers so it's back to the airport," he explained.

"To be honest now it's been the hardest out of all the time I've spent here, and it's been six months, it's the longest I've been here, and I can't see myself leaving to look for somewhere until after the summer."

Mr Brownwood said he is now one of several "zombies" from all over the world, not just the UK, some older like him, but others younger.

This issue is not limited to Malaga, either. Madrid Airport has hired a private security firm to reduce the number of homeless people sleeping overnight in its terminals. A recent survey by the Caritas charity estimates that as many as 421 homeless people are sleeping inside Terminal 4 alone. Many go to work during the day and return each night to sleep.