Thursday 19 April 2018

Spanish Minister Tells British Expats they are More than Welcome to Stay in Spain

No one fully knows yet, but Spain needs the brits
and will be allowed to stay in Spain


Spanish Minister Tells British Expats they are More than Welcome to Stay in Spain

It seems like the fearmongering headlines about Brexit and the potential fallout have all but vanished recently, but there are still many people who are left with unanswered questions and a lot of worrying “what if?” questions. 
While a complete 100% answer about what Brexit means for EUcitizens and Brits alike, the politicians who are going to be involved in those decisions are saying positive things at the very least.

This includes Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis, who told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 that even if the UK is unable to secure a deal on Brexit when leaving the EU, the British people in Spain would be allowed to remain where they are.

Brussels and the British government have been locked in an impasse that is a reflection of the political problems the two have been dealing with since the result of the referendum last summer. The “divorce” negotiations are so complex and complicated that there has yet to be a single cause that British PM Theresa May appears to be protecting above all others. Free trade appears to be important, but there are problems with that. This is also the case with free movement of people, which is only becoming a more heated discussion with immigration fears.

Prime Minister May has at least made some concessions for EU citizens living in the UK and says their situation won’t change, and these words were mirrored by Dastis when he said that he hopes there will be a deal and that – should no deal arise – the Spanish government will endeavour to ensure the lives of British people living there are not disrupted.

Dastis added that there is a very close social and economic relationship between Spain and Britain. Spain welcomes over 17 million Brits a year and a lot of them go to the country to live and retire, and Spain wants to continue this relationship as much as they can.

Spain has become the popular choice for Brits living in theEU. The official statistics from the UK show there are 308,805 Brits currently living in Spain, but the real number is estimated to be at least twice this. Around a third of the Brits living in Spain are over 65 years old according to this same source, and that the proportion of retirement-age expats is growing.

Tuesday 17 April 2018

Spanish Expats in UK Contribute £802 million to British Economy

Expats continue to fund the economy 
Spanish Expats in UK Contribute £802 million to British Economy


The never-ending love affair between the UK and Spain – outside of the occasional spat over Gibraltar – should be a reminder to everyone who wants to spread the idea that Europe is divided that even countries that are as “different” as these two countries have a lot of respect, admiration and love for each other.

Brits are in love with the climate, beaches, hospitality, and traditional foods and wines of Spain. Spain, on the other hand, loves the culture, history, fairness, liberal economic and working conditions and the food and beer of the UK. 

While there are certainly more Brits living in Spain than the other way around, the gap started to close with thousands of young Spaniards moving to Britain to escape the recession and find work. 

Some of those Spaniards are moving back home now the economy in Spain is improving, but data from the HMRC in the UK has shown there are still many Spaniards living in Britain and they are proving to be great for the country. 

The data showed that Spaniards contributed £802 million in taxes in 2014 while claiming only £62 million in benefits. This gave the UK economy a major net benefit and puts the Spanish in sixth place in the list of the top ten countries contributing taxes to Britain. 

France comes top of the list, with French residents paying a whopping £2.3 billion in taxes during 2014, putting them ahead of the Polish, who contributed £2.2 billion. As close as these figures are the net benefit of French expats is much higher than the Poles with a ratio of 25.6 compared to 2.4 for the Poles. This shows that Polish immigrants are more likely to claim benefits compared to French immigrants. 

Spaniards provide a net benefit ratio of 12.9 which makes them one of the best contributors to the British economy according to the HMRC data.

Monday 16 April 2018

Great News for the Spanish Economy; Unemployment Falls by 180,000

Great News for the Spanish Economy; Unemployment Falls by 180,000

Jobs continue to be created 
Over 182,000 jobs were created in Spain during the third quarter of last year between July 1st and September 30th, bringing down the percentage of unemployed people to 4.66% and bringing the total number of unemployed people to 3.73 million; the lowest figure since 2008.

The third quarter has always been the strongest time for job creation in the country as it includes the busy summer period where plenty of seasonal jobs are created. However, when viewed over a long period of time the trend becomes very encouraging; the third quarter has been a booster for Spanish employment figures for five years running now, and the performance last year follows a strong second quarter that saw Spanish total unemployment drop below four million for the first time since 2009.

The data comes from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published by the government. The EPA registers not just unemployed people that report to their local employment office, but also the jobless people that aren’t registered for whatever reason. This means that the figures in the EPA are higher than other sources.

Even so, the data shows that the unemployment rate for Spain has fallen to 16.38%, which is about 2.5% lower than last year and continues the positive trend of an increase in job security, growth and financial stability of households and businesses.