If you live in Pedralba, Spain, everyone knows your business. Which is exactly what Eugene Carmichael was trying to avoid when he moved there 18 years ago.

“There are 2,000 people here,” laughed the 77-year-old. “Everyone knows your business. Plus, I’m the only black man around. I couldn’t do anything wrong, everyone would know it was me.”

He and his wife, Lorna, moved to Europe after he retired from the insurance industry in 1999.

“I was an account manager for 20 years,” he said. “The job was stressful and I felt my son, Nathaniel, was growing up without me.

“When I turned 60 I gave myself an early birthday present and we moved.”

His older daughters, Donna and Carol Ann, stayed in Bermuda. Mr Carmichael envisioned himself in Spain playing golf, riding horses and maybe opening a tourist shop.

None of that happened.

To begin with there was a language barrier for him since he only knew the Spanish word for beer, cerveza.

And that was not much use because he does not drink much.

“These roads are crazy here even when you are stone cold sober,” he said.

Fortunately, his wife did speak the language. She helped them navigate their early days in Spain.

Mr Carmichael still spends a lot of time practising but he is much better. So much so that he was picked for a role in Three Kings Day celebrations this year.

In Spain, the three kings bring gifts on January 6, after a parade.

Mr Carmichael was asked to fill in after someone else dropped out. He and the other kings delivered presents to thousands of children in the town of Rocafort. The gifts were bought by the town.

“I was something of a rarity because I looked the part and I was old enough to actually be one of the three kings,” he said.

“It was a real honour. It is like playing Santa in the Christmas parade in Bermuda. I was exhausted when it was over but the children brought us so much love and respect. I had adults addressing me as ‘Your Majesty’. I thought, ‘I could get used to this’.”

He was given a Jaguar for the weekend as thanks.

“So I have been driving this car around and making everyone envious,” said Mr Carmichael. “It’s a brand-new sports model.”

Mr Carmichael grew up on Scaur Hill in Sandys.

Coming home is always exciting. He and his wife plan to visit at Easter. They were last here in 2014.

“I would like to visit at least once a year, but as a retired person that is not financially possible,” he said. “When there are large periods of time between visits, I find that too many things change. I’m sure many of my friends think I died; a case of out of sight, out of mind.

“As I fly in over our waters I find myself being as impressed as all the other tourists. It is a strange feeling to be a tourist in my home country. To take in all the changes I have to go touring around the island as though I were seeing it for the first time. The saying, ‘there’s no place like home’, is so true.”

However, as far back as he can remember, he has “always had this thing about Spain”.

He has never regretted the move — “not even for a nanosecond” — although he has had to weather some financial storms.

“The dollar has periodically lost its value to the extent that it became very difficult for me to pay my bills,” he said. “It has been a loss, at times, of 50 per cent. The worst of it was during the height of the economic crisis — $1,000 leaving Bermuda arrived here as 600 euros. Shortly after the euro was introduced, $1,000 left Bermuda and arrived here as 1,200 euros.”

Mr Carmichael enjoys writing and published two books last year: Death is Not the End and Furious: ­­Sometimes Real Life Sucks. Both are available on Amazon.

Lifestyle profiles senior citizens in the community every Tuesday. To suggest an outstanding senior contact Jessie Moniz Hardy: 278-0150 or jmhardy@royalgazette.com. Have on hand the senior’s full name, contact details and the reason you are suggesting them.