A British expat who made the life-changing decision to move her entire family to the Spanish coast 24 years ago has no plans to return.

       “The only way I’m ever returning to the UK is in a coffin,” she has said.

       Real estate agent Nicola Powles made the decision after a three-day holiday to the Costa del Sol that cost just ￡99.

       The mother-of-two claims to save ￡850 per month on bills and rent compared to UK prices: “In the UK, we were paying the same amount of rent for one house than what we were doing for two in Spain, which both included a pool,” she explained, adding that she can now get a three-course meal with a drink in a local hotel for just ￡11.

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       “It’s a shame but Britain is quickly becoming a third world country with nothing to offer for the people who live there,” Ms Powles told The Sun. “It’s a scary country with crime out of control, you can’t see a doctor and ambulances don’t arrive. It’s always grey – where will it end?”

       She then added: “My advice? Get out now while you can."

       Three weeks after her initial holiday, Powles moved her entire family, including her then-husband, children, two horses and two dogs from Portsmouth to the Spanish coast. While her family has since returned to Britain, she insists she has no plans to follow them back.

       According to Kanan, a study abroad company, the average cost of living for a family of four in the UK was around ￡2,200 per month, excluding rent, last year. In Spain, this figure was considerably lower at around ￡1,400, excluding rent.

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       The urgent warning Ms Powles sends to Brits considering the expat life in Spain comes as the country’s socialist PM Pedro Sanchez announced in January plans to impose a 100% tax on property purchases by non-EU residents, or a potential outright ban on sales.

       In a bid to tackle Spain's housing crisis, Sanchez branded British property buyers as “speculators” who were out “just to make money”.

       Last year, the government axed the country’s famous Golden Visa scheme, which offered non-EU citizens residency rights in exchange for a ￡420,000 investment, usually in property. It is set to close on April 3 this year.

       One estate agent has claimed that Spain’s hard stance against non-EU property owners meant it was “shooting itself in the foot”.