RESEARCH has found that a staggering 90,000 UK expats quit Spain because they weren’t happy.

A study of those who moved to a Mediterranean country found their levels of happiness were lower than those who had headed in the opposite direction.

And official figures from Spanish authorities show how 90,000 Brits packed up and left last year, fleeing the eurozone crisis, high unemployment and a crash in house prices.

Data from the National Institute of Statistics reveals how almost a quarter of Britons registered with local councils in Spain went home last year.

In all, 87,880 left Spain behind after a life in sun failed to live up to the dream.

In a separate study, University of Leicester researchers looked at 256 migrants from Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, France, and 73 from the UK, who relocated to Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus in search of a new life.

Dr David Bartram said: “The key finding from the analysis is that people from northern Europe who migrated to southern Europe are less happy than the stayers in northern Europe.”