La colonia británica en España pisa el acelerador para empadronarse

La colonia británica en España pisa el acelerador para empadronarse

Oct 17, 2019 | Articles, News

El Brexit ha unido a los casi 400.000 británicos (entre oficiales y no empadronados) que viven en España. Desde que su país aprobó salir de la Unión Europea, en junio de 2016, todos comparten un mismo sentimiento. Ninguno de ellos sabe lo que les va a ocurrir y eso ya es un punto en común que borra cualquier diferencia. «Todos los días nos levantamos pendientes de los periódicos y esperando información del consulado», explica Karen Cowles, presidenta de la Asociación de Comerciantes Británicos de Benidorm.

Las noticias que llegan de Reino Unido no aclaran mucho sus dudas. El Gobierno británico y Bruselas están tratando de alcanzar a marchas forzadas un acuerdo que debería estar cerrado el próximo día 17, fecha en la que el Consejo Europeo dará por concluido el plazo de negociaciones. A partir de ahí, la oposición obligará al Ejecutivo de Boris Johnson a pedir a Bruselas que amplíe la fecha límite de salida de la UE y forzará así la convocatoria de elecciones. Para complicar la situación, el primer ministro mantiene su promesa de sacar al país de la Unión Europea el día 31 con acuerdo o sin él.

Esta es la información que amarga todos los días el desayuno de la abundante colonia británica en España. Vive sumida en una sensación de incertidumbre que no hace sino aumentar a medida que pasan los días. No saben qué será de ellos ni cómo cambiará sus vidas cuando termine octubre. «Se desconoce cómo serán los términos del acuerdo, si es que lo hay», resume Ricardo Bocanegra, abogado marbellí experto en extranjería. Salvo esperar, solo pueden hacer una cosa: empadronarse en los municipios donde residen.

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‘This is an exciting time’, UK minister tells Brits in Spain as Brexit looms

‘This is an exciting time’, UK minister tells Brits in Spain as Brexit looms

Oct 17, 2019 | Articles, News

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has written an open letter to anxious Brits in Spain telling them that “this is an exciting time” as he urges them to prepare for Brexit.

Dominic Raab has penned a letter to UK nationals in Spain in which he tells them how they should be preparing for Brexit as the UK government gets ready to deliver the “will of the British people” on October 31. 

His letter reads like a set of demands for Brits in Spain – “you’ll need”, “you must”, “you should” – in return for only vague promises about UK nationals’ rights in their host country post-2020. 

Although Raab assures his target audience that in the event of a no-deal Brexit they will continue to have access to healthcare in Spain “exactly as you do now, until at least 31 December 2020 if you are an S1 form holder”, there is no mention of the worry and anxiety that’s been caused to them over the past three years, or what is likely to happen to their healthcare after that date. 

Instead the UK Foreign Secretary repeats much of what’s already been announced by the British Embassy in Spain, choosing to round off his impersonal letter by saying

“This is an exciting time, but also one of unprecedented change”. 

“We’re getting ready for Brexit on 31 October, and I would urge you to do the same”.

Sue Wilson of Bremain in Spain has responded to Raab’s tactless comments by telling The Local: “Brexiter Raab might think this an exciting time, but I can assure you, we do not!

“More appropriate adjectives to describe our assessment of the current state of play would be “terrifying” or “unsettling”. Promising that our rights and benefits are protected for a limited period does not provide reassurance. Rather, it has Brits in Spain worrying what will happen when that period expires?

“Those hoping for a deal, any deal, to get us out of this awful limbo, are now starting to realise that even a Brexit deal will not see the end of this awful uncertainty”.

Raab even found the time to praise the “the largest information campaign in British history” – the Get Ready for Brexit  campaign – as if to imply that this was of importance or helpful for UK nationals in Spain who still don’t know what their future holds.

Read Dominic Raab’s full letter in The Local

 

 

Británicos en España: nerviosos, confundidos y con menos dinero por el Brexit

Británicos en España: nerviosos, confundidos y con menos dinero por el Brexit

Oct 17, 2019 | Articles, News

“Muchos hemos visto cómo se reducían nuestros ingresos, y algunos no saben cómo van vivir”, cuenta Susan Wilson, jubilada y residente en Alcocebre (Castellón) desde hace 12 años.

Susan -como muchos otros británicos que viven en España- depende de su pensión, procedente del Reino Unido y que se ha visto reducida en un 18 por ciento desde el referéndum del Brexit, por la caída de la libra. Cree que los más vulnerables son los que reciben una pensión del Estado británico, y conoce “personas que se ven obligadas a tomar decisiones financieras difíciles porque los ingresos que tenían hace tres años van a verse reducidos aún más”.

“Una gran parte de los británicos que reside en España son pensionistas; hasta ahora el gobierno británico les actualiza cada año la pensión, pero es posible que no lo siga haciendo”, dice Neil Hesketh, que vive en Málaga, y donde reside desde hace 17 años. Neil vino a España porque “quería vivir en un clima diferente” y encontró al principio trabajo en marketing y en una inmobiliaria. Explica que “hay jubilados, mayores -con problemas de salud- que están preocupados con el riesgo de quedarse sin cobertura sanitaria después del Brexit”, y “están un poco asustados, todos corriendo para inscribirse en el registro de ciudadanos europeos” para no quedarse sin cobertura sanitaria. A día de hoy el principal problema es “la capacidad de las comisarías para aceptar a todas las personas que quieren citas para inscribirse; están tardando en dar citas”, señala Neil, aunque reconoce que tanto la embajada del Reino Unido como el Ministerio de Interior español están haciendo todo lo que pueden.

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Sue Wilson Writes: Unlike EU citizens in the UK, Brits in Spain are lucky enough to enjoy the warmth of our hosts

Sue Wilson Writes: Unlike EU citizens in the UK, Brits in Spain are lucky enough to enjoy the warmth of our hosts

Oct 7, 2019 | Articles, Sue Wilson Writes

Sue Wilson from Bremain in Spain gave a speech to a sell-out audience in Barcelona on the issues of Brexit, the warm welcome from Spain and stereotypes that still tarnish the perception of Brits in the country. Here she explains what part of her message got the biggest cheers.
On Thursday 3 October, a crowd of European citizens, mostly British and Spanish, attended the sell-out event, ‘Europeans in Catalonia’ at the Princess Hotel, Barcelona.
 
The four speakers discussed issues relating to Brexit – especially the human cost, which is frequently overlooked in the Brexit debate, in favour of trade and the economy.
 
A question and answer session followed, with many audience members participating, including EU Supergirl, Madeleina Kay, who was visiting Spain as part of her European tour.
 
The first speaker was Hedwig Hegtermans of the 3Million campaign group, speaking on behalf of European citizens in the UK.
 
Hedwig talked about the injustices of the Settled Status scheme and how Brexit has changed the way the UK feels about and treats European immigrants.
 
Next in the line-up was Elena Remigi, founder of the In Limbo Project, and Debbie Williams, chair of Brexpats – Hear our Voice. They highlighted the impact of Brexit on citizens in the UK and EU and read some moving testimonials from the In Limbo books, which have now been presented to over 1,500 politicians.
 
The books have helped many UK and EU politicians understand that their respective citizens are upset, angry and unnerved at the prospect of Brexit, and the loss of their rights.
 
In my speech about Brits in Spain, I described the stereotypes we constantly see in the press: i.e. that we’re all pensioners, living on the coast, lazing on the beach, speaking only English and spending our time playing bowls or bridge, when we’re not sitting in bars festooned with Union Jack flags.

I think I might have mentioned something about drinking gin too!

I described how we feel about our reception in Spain: how we appreciate the Spanish government’s efforts to protect us and the treatment we receive from the Spanish people.

We have many issues in common with EU citizens in the UK but, fortunately, we don’t have to deal with the daily intolerance and xenophobia that they sadly experience.

We are lucky enough to enjoy the warmth, welcome and generosity of our Spanish family, friends and neighbours.

My “thank you” to the Spanish people received a big cheer from the audience. I concluded with a round-up of the current state of play. With events happening so quickly, and being so unpredictable, it’s difficult to be certain of anything, but I did make a few predictions.

Firstly, we’re not leaving the EU on October 31.

Any chance of a deal based on what Boris Johnson has proposed to Brussels seems unlikely. If nothing is agreed by 19 October, law dictates that Boris must ask the EU for an extension.

It’s likely that this will be agreed by the EU and may be longer than the UK anticipates.

If Johnson doesn’t abide by the law, he would face unknown consequences. The EU has already said that someone other than Johnson can sign the letter, should that prove necessary.

Secondly, a further referendum is far more likely now than it has been for months.

Increasingly, it looks like the best way out of the Brexit chaos, and it would certainly be the most democratic route.

The people made the decision that started this ball rolling, and they should make the decision about how it ends.

Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach of Ireland, said the British public would vote remain now, if given the chance.  I agree with him.

Finally, I’ve always believed that the longer we delay Brexit, the less likely it is to happen at all.

Brexit is not inevitable – it can be stopped, it must be stopped, and it will be stopped.

That comment received the biggest cheer of the evening ….. well, except, perhaps, for “see me in the bar afterwards”!

 
Sue’s article taken from The Local
 
‘It’s like a death sentence’: retired Britons in EU face loss of healthcare

‘It’s like a death sentence’: retired Britons in EU face loss of healthcare

Oct 7, 2019 | Articles, News

Britons with serious, sometimes terminal, illnesses who live in the EU say they have no certainty about how or even whether their healthcare costs will be covered after a no-deal Brexit and are suffering a “living nightmare” of anxiety and despair.

“It’s like a death sentence,” said Denise Abel, who moved to Italy in 2012. “It’s all you think about. I feel abandoned, betrayed and furious. There are no words for the rage I feel. We’re the collateral damage in the government’s war with the EU.”

The UK government announced last month that if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal the estimated 180,000 retired British nationals in the bloc whose healthcare costs it funds would continue to be covered for six months.

Most of the 1 million Britons in the EU are earners, so pay into the health systems of the EU member states they live in. Their healthcare arrangements should be unaffected by a no-deal Brexit.

But pensioners, who paid social security when they lived in the UK, are part of a reciprocal healthcare scheme, S1, under which the NHS reimburses the cost of their treatment – and which will cease to exist after a no-deal Brexit.

“They feel like they’ve been kicked in the gut,” said Kalba Meadows of the campaign group British in Europe. “A lot of them are pretty vulnerable; it really wouldn’t take much to guarantee their rights until bilateral reciprocal arrangements are in place.”

The government was urging pensioners to sign up for their local health system but this was often not possible or too expensive on a basic UK pension, which is worth 20% less in euros because of the collapse of the pound since the EU referendum in 2016, Meadows said. Private health insurance was also beyond the means of many retired people, who are likely to have pre-existing conditions.

“They are left with the very real prospect of having no healthcare,” she said. “And in many countries, without healthcare you are no longer legally resident. There’s really a lot of fear. We’ve had hundreds of people contact us. Many are elderly, some have terminal illnesses – they are genuinely petrified.”

Read full article in The Guardian