‘I want to give back to this country forever’: Why this expat calls Dubai home

He arrived in the UAE with nothing but a suitcase and ambition. What followed were 88 days of silence.Every morning, Diego Carrete would sit inside a coffee shop, sending out job applications, hoping someone would call back. No one did.Then, on Day 89, the phone rang.More than a decade later, the 38-year-old Spaniard has built a life he says he could never have imagined – one rooted in stability, purpose and family.Today, Carrete serves as the Chief Wellness Officer at First Abu Dhabi Bank and is also an ambassador for the Global Wellness Institute. He lives in Dubai Marina with his Swedish wife Vera Carrete, whom he met in Dubai, and their two children — six-year-old Iris and two-year-old Leo, both born in the UAE.Some of his favourite memories in the city are deeply personal ones. When he first met Vera, he picked her up for their meeting at Kite Beach in a rented Nissan Sunny. Years later, when he proposed, he rented the exact same car again – even though by then he had his own car – and took her back to the same spot.“I asked her to wait for me in Zabeel Tower and picked her up from the same place. It was a memorable proposal,” he recalled.Diego Carrete with wife Vera Why the UAE felt differentBut for Carrete, the story of his UAE journey began long before the job title.Born in La Coruña, Spain, he grew up in a middle-class family where education was everything. His grandmother, a farmer, invested everything she had in his father’s education so he could become a dentist. His father then followed the same philosophy, pouring nearly everything he earned into Carrete’s future.“My dad was always very keen that I get an international education. So, he invested almost everything we had as a family in my education, instead of investing in material things,” Carrete told Emirates 24|7.That investment took him across the world, from Spain to the UK and the US. But despite living globally, he says the UAE stood out in a way that is difficult to explain unless you experience it yourself.“You get what you put in here,” he said. “The UAE rewards vision, determination and kindness.”Diego Carrete 2 Unlike the glamorous version of Dubai often portrayed online, Carrete says his life in the city is intentionally simple and deeply grounded.“We live a very health-oriented life. Very conservative, respectful and quiet,” he said. “I live the opposite of what you see on social media.”For him, the real luxury in the UAE is the safety that the country provides for residents.“It makes you feel looked after. Like your wellbeing and safety matter,” he said.“Anywhere else in the world, I have to look after my safety. But here, I know my daughter can be safe, she’ll not be at risk from a physical perspective and as a parent you can never really do enough to pay that back.”That sense of safety comes from rules that are “crystal clear”, ultimately providing a safe space for people to truly have the freedom to live life in the way they choose to.“For me, life in Dubai is very close to nature. It is a spiritual, emotional life – it allows you to live a version of your life where you can raise your children close to your beliefs,” he said.Eleven years after he first arrived, the experiences he’s had in the UAE have only made this feeling grow stronger. Receiving the 10-year Golden Visa six years ago, he says, was one of those experiences.“That’s a token of appreciation and trust that the country has deposited in me and I feel like I want to retire here and I want to give back to this country forever,” he said.