In the past, Brits visited destinations like Marbella at the Costa del Sol purely for the sunshine, fine sandy beaches and fabulous nightlife. Today, Malaga Province attracts as many Brits looking for affordable Marbella holiday homes as people in search of cheap cosmetic surgery. More people than ever before travel to Spain for tummy tucks, Botox treatments, boob jobs and liposuction.
According to new statistics, the number of overseas visitors coming to Spain for cosmetic surgery has risen to a historic high. The health tourism market netted Spain around 500 million Euros last year, a 20% increase compared to 2014.
Growing Sector worth up to a Billion Euros
A spokesperson for Marbella’s very own cosmetic surgery clinic, Ocean Clinic Marbella, said that the turnover from this sector is expected to reach the 1 billion Euro mark by 2020 – and that is mainly due to British demand, although this rise in the health tourism sector is also due to more patients from Russia, America and the Middle East.
Ocean Clinic Marbella is headed by Dr Kaye, who ensures that patients in search of health, beauty and a prolonged youthful appearance get the deluxe treatment they could expect to find in their home countries. The clinic carries out neck- and facelifts, liposuction, arm- and thigh lifts, tummy tucks, deep peeling, filler treatments, uplifts and reductions of breasts, nose- and ear reshaping and breast augmentation. Naturally, the clinic also offers the ever-popular Botox treatment.
“With the pound at a seven-year high against the euro, British health tourists now have more than 15% extra spending power in Spain than they did a year ago,” a spokesperson for Ocean Clinic Marbella explained, adding that the “benefits of the strong exchange rate come in addition to the already low prices for cosmetic surgery and dentistry in Spain.”
Brits save up to 60% on Cosmetic Surgery
He explained that cosmetic treatments carried out in the UK cost on average 60% more than those done in Spain. “But cutting costs does not mean cutting quality of care. Spain has some of the best medical establishments in the world.”
Given that the average breast implant surgery carried out in a private UK clinic costs between 4,500 and 6,500 Euros, the advantage of going to Spain for cosmetic surgery is as plain as the proverbial nose: a private Spanish clinic on average charges between 3,500 to 5,500 Euros for the same surgery.
At rival Amar Clinic, also based in Marbella, patients afraid to commit to cosmetic surgery can receive non-surgical facelifts as well as all the conventional types of surgery offered at other clinics. Headed by Dr Roger Amar, a plastic surgeon who settled in Marbella some years ago, the clinic uses the in cosmetic surgery circles well-known FAMI facial rejuvenation technique to help patients regain their youthful appearance.
Developed some 15 years ago, the FAMI procedure is often referred to as the stem cell face lift, because unlike other injection-based non-invasive procedures, FAMI uses stem or mother cells, not fat to make facial rejuvenation a reality for patients.
Our bodies’ own fatty tissue harbours autologous adult stem cells in large quantities, which are used in the procedure, producing astonishing results in the past 15 years. Both FAMI and fat-grafting have widely replaced face lifting surgery, since patients prefer on the whole to have non-invasive treatment, because recovery times are much faster and treatments are deemed less risky.
Marbella ideal Place to recover
Who wouldn’t choose sunny Marbella over a rainy day in Manchester, Birmingham or London to recover from cosmetic surgery?
For those with a holiday home in Marbella it’s even easier to have a speedy recovery, for they have a created a “home from home”, where they have all the creature comforts they could wish for while their noses, tummies or thighs recover from surgery or treatments.