Bremain in Spain History
When the results of the referendum were revealed in the early hours of Friday 24 June 2016, Carrie Frais and Deborah Gray, the founders of Bremain in Spain, were in shock. It was a feeling shared by many other pro-Europeans here in Spain, across Europe, and by the 48% in the UK who voted to stay in the EU.
Carrie and Deborah had both been raising families and running their own businesses in Barcelona for over 10 years and felt completely European. Upset at the prospect of losing freedoms and benefits they had assumed were theirs for life and concerned about the withdrawal of those freedoms from future generations, they decided to take action.
The original concept was a simple one – the objective being to drum up support and to lobby MPs. So, the day after the referendum, the Bremain in Spain Facebook group was created for fellow pro-European sufferers – predominantly, but not exclusively, for UK nationals living in Spain.
After 3 weeks of dealing with the shock, anger, sadness and disappointment of the referendum, I joined the Facebook group myself, initially as an observer. I quickly became more involved as a commentator, then as an administrator. When Bremain grew beyond the founders’ wildest expectations, and considering the demands of their businesses and young families, I was asked to step in and take the helm. As of September 2016, I have honoured to be Chair of Bremain, with a dedicated council, and clear goals and objectives.
My first public appearance as Bremain Chair was in January 2017, when I was asked to present the concerns of British citizens living in Spain to the Select Committee for Exiting the European Union. Thankfully this was the first of many opportunities to present our case to politicians – both in London and Brussels – to ensure awareness of the many issues that Brexit presented to British nationals living in Europe.
In 2018, I was lead claimant in a legal battle against the then Prime Minister, Theresa May. The court case – known as the UK in EU Challenge – challenged the PM’s triggering of Articled 50 as failing to meet “constitutional requirements”. Following the Electoral Commission’s clear and unambiguous findings of illegalities in the referendum, we hoped to convince the court that the results of the referendum should be disregarded – as they would have been had this been an election. Unfortunately, the court disagreed, though the PM’s legal representative did admit that May was fully aware of the facts, but chose to ignore them.
Up until Brexit Day in January 2020, our primary goal was to stop Brexit from happening and protect our rights as EU citizens. In order to work towards these goals, Bremain was one of the founding members of British in Europe and worked closely with anti-Brexit groups such as Britain for Europe.
Sadly, our efforts failed to prevent Brexit from going ahead, but we re-focused our activities to ensure our rights as UK nationals in the EU, and the rights of EU citizens in the UK, were protected. To achieve this, we worked closely with the British Embassy, the Foreign Office, UK politicians, members of the European Parliament, and parliamentary committees such as the House of Lords European Affairs Committee.
In June 2021, I was delighted to be named in the Queen’s birthday honours list and awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
The award, which was presented to me by Prince William at Windsor Castle in November 2022, was for “Services to British Nationals in Spain and Europe”.
Now Brexit is “done”, Bremain works closely with a number of active campaign groups – most especially with our partners European Movement UK. We have also expanded our reach and are represented across a number of social media platforms. In addition, we regularly participate in pro-EU/anti-Brexit/Rejoin marches and rallies, including delivering speeches, as well as writing articles and producing our own monthly newsletter.
We continue to fight for British citizens’ rights, in Spain, across Europe and in the UK. It is vital we continue to limit the damage of Brexit and maintain strong links and good relations with our European partners. The closer our ties with the EU now, and in the future, the easier our reconnection will be when we inevitably rejoin the EU. We will not stop until we see the full restoration of our EU citizenship rights. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long!
Thank you for your continued support and trust and for joining us in our struggle.
Sue Wilson MBE Chair – Bremain in Spain