Norwegian Snowbirds, Retired Migrants and Offshore Elderly Care in Alicante

European integration has facilitated seniors’ mobility options. The free flow of persons, capital, services and goods makes it easier for some migrants to move elsewhere. Since the 1970s, Norwegian healthcare and elderly care have existed beyond the nation-state. This can be labelled offshoring (Urry, Offshoring. Polity Press, 2014). In addition to improving their health due to the climate, Norwegian retirees reported increased life quality. Lower labour costs contributed as they could afford to hire help, use services or consume food and drinks outside the home. Norwegian seniors and real estate entrepreneurs in Alicante promoted public Norwegian elderly care centres there. For a short period (1996–2023), nursing homes and rehabilitation centres existed as welfare services provided to Norwegians in Spain. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic halted international travel and affected International Retirement Migration (IRM) in general. This chapter also reflects on how the pandemic impacted Norwegian senior migrants and institutions in Alicante, concluding that economic factors and developments in Norwegian public elderly care were more decisive than the pandemic in the closure of some centres. By 2024, the era of publicly financed elderly care for Norwegians in Spain inside separate institutions had ended.