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.

Three Reasons for British Expats to Stay Cheerful

Three Reasons for British Expats to Stay Cheerful

Expats will be ok, spain needs you and the EU

needs the UK

The Brexit has caused quite a big shift in the world. There is one group in particular that are no doubt feeling apprehensive about the vote to leave the EU and that is British expats living  and working in in Spain.

Most of the Brits who live in Spain are free to live and work there because of the provisions given to them by the EU. Citizens in the EU are able to live and work wherever they please in other EU states, including Spain, provided that they don’t cause any trouble for their host nation.

With the vote to leave the European Union it looks like things are going to have to change in the long term. The good news is that the EU is beginning to soften up how it will deal with the UK even though British politics continue to meltdown.

Many nations in Europe are beginning to speak out in support of the UK, chief amongst which was the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He spoke of the need for calm. With all of this in mind, and remembering that it’s too early to tell for sure what will happen now, here are three reasons for British expats to stay cheerful.

1.      Two Years is a Long Time and Anything Can Happen

Article 50 of the EU Agreement was made in order to prevent the kind of panic that Europe is currently gripped by. The idea behind Article 50, something that has never actually been used yet, is that a member state has two years to fully extricate itself from the rules and regulations of the European Union.

Nobody can tell for sure if the UK will have to relinquish all of these agreements or how substitute agreements could be put into place. One thing for sure is that the people saying the UK will be tossed out and never welcomed back are completely wrong. This are definitely going to be a little more difficult for Brits looking to live and work in another EU country, but there is almost no chance at all that they will be completely cut off.

2.      The UK and Spain are Close Allies

When people get divorced they sometimes decide to stay friends for the sake of the kids. While the UK and Spain aren’t the ones being divorced they can still choose to stay together for the benefit of both countries. The “kids” in this case would be 100s of thousands of Brits and Spaniards living in the other country.

It’s best for both countries to come to an agreement that can ensure these people aren’t displaced or inconvenienced. Brits have been giving Spain their money, hearts, and souls for decades now and have been buying more property in Spain than any other European country. They were friends before the EU was even a thing and they can remain friends even now.

3.      The EU is Softening Up

The EU seemed quick to tell the UK that they were gone from the EU and had to live with the consequences on their own now. Now that the dust is settling the EU seems to be softening up their approach. The German chancellor Angela Merkel has said that countries shouldn’t feel the need to be nasty when negotiating with the UK and that the country should remain a close ally and economical partner with their European friends.

While more politicians are coming to grips with the result of the referendum – where 48.1% of people voted to remain in the EU, they are realising that the needs of these people shouldn’t be ignored, no matter what the UK government things and feels. All in all we could actually be witnessing the birth of a brand new, potentially even better, partnership for both sides, which means that buying property in the Costa del sol and Spain will continue to be in demand for many years.

Spanish Workers Keen to Stay in Home Country While Looking for a Job

Spanish Workers Keen to Stay in Home Country While Looking for a Job

Spanish workers just love Spain

Despite the love affair that British and northern Europeans have with Spain, from the climate and property, to the food and beaches in Spain, one thing the Spanish have that Brits aren’t interested in is unemployment.

The Spanish economy has been struggling lately which hasn’t helped people find and keep their jobs. It also means that wages are not on the increase like they are in other countries in Northern Europe.

As a result you’d be hard pressed to find a Brit who was eager to move to Spain to find a job. Recent studies have shown that Brits are not willing to move anywhere in order to find work and would rather stay at home.

The study discovered that 98.52% of Brits said they expected their next job would be in the UK. This was the highest percentage of any nationality from the EU.

The poll was of the EU15, or the 15 strongest economies in the European Union. It showed that the UK was also the most desirable country for people looking to find work outside of their own country. Just over a third of people polled said if they were to work abroad they would want to work in the UK.

One of the reasons that the UK is such a favourable destination is undoubtedly that most Europeans who are of working age are able to speak English as a second language. The UK also has more relaxed labour laws and higher wages when compared to the rest of the EU.

Economist Mariano Mamertino of Indeed concluded that the average Brit is far less likely to want to work in Europe than the average European wants to work in Britain. The nationalities that expressed the most interest in working in Britain were the Irish (12.7%) the Greeks (9.5%), and the Danes (7.1). In fact the Britons that said they wouldn’t mind working abroad would rather leave Europe altogether and work in the United States or India.

When you consider there are currently millions of Brits living in Spain it becomes clear that those most likely to become an expat are people aged over 45 who have enough financial stability to not work again and become a resident of Spain.

Spain still scored high in terms of people who want to stay and find work in their own country however. Over 93% of Spaniards who were polled said they would want to work in Spain, a figure that was only beaten by the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. It did place them above Finland and Sweden though.

The good news for all these Spaniards wanting to stay is that the Spanish job market is improving. 58,000 jobs were created in Spain which reduced the Spanish unemployment figure to 4.09 million. This is the lowest unemployment has been in over six years.

As the economy slowly recovers Spain is still one of the healthiest places to live in the world with an average temperature over 20C, no wonder the Spanish enjoy their own country and don’t look to leave as the cost of living in Spain is excellent.