Distressing images of war-torn Ukraine, and the plight of innocent Ukrainians, are becoming all too familiar. Poor, desperate people are caught up in the terrible struggle, with millions forced to flee their homes and their country.

Spain is home to 112,000 Ukrainian residents and is preparing to welcome at least 12,000 refugees. Reception centres have been set up in Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante – these will also act as logistics centres for humanitarian aid.

The Spanish government have launched a streamlined, simple system that will help displaced Ukrainian refugees find the help and support they so desperately need. As Spain opens her arms to Ukrainian refugees, many of us are asking ourselves what we, as individuals, can do to help.

We hope the following suggestions and links will provide some answers and encourage us all to open our hearts, our wallets, and maybe even our doors to desperate Ukrainian refugees.

What can I do to help?

• Check with your local town hall/regional government for details of local support being offered. You can find a list of the Spanish Autonomous Communities here
• Essential items – clothes, medicines, food – are being collected at various points throughout Spain – read more from El Pais here
• Write to your MP to demand stronger sanctions against Russia and visa-free access to the UK for desperate Ukrainian refugees. You can find your MP here
• Share articles and appeals for help on social media – we have listed a few relevant articles you may have missed below
• Donate to a charity – there are many well-respected and experienced organisations to choose from – you will find an alphabetical list, with links, below

Charities and organisations providing help & support

Aldeas Infantiles SOS – Emergency in Ukraine

CARE – Ukraine Emergency – how you can help

Cruz Roja (Spanish Red Cross)

Disasters Emergency Committee (UK) – Ukraine Appeal

EU stands with Ukraine – EU Solidarity with Ukraine

Immigration Lawyers Spain – Regularization for Ukrainian citizens in Spain

Infancia de NAD – Temporary shelter programme for minors in Spain

International Medical Corps – War in Ukraine – Helping civilians inside the country

MOAS – Bringing emergency aid and assistance to conflict-affected Ukrainians

Project Hope – Crisis in Ukraine

Red Cross (British) – Part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) – Ukraine Appeal

Refugee Support – Helping to create a world where all refugees can live with dignity

Save the Children – Help children suffering the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine

Sunflower of Peace – Help the people of Ukraine

United Help Ukraine – Helping people, saving lives

Unicef – Para cada infancia

United Nations Foundation – the UN’s humanitarian response in Ukraine

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) – Support women & girls impacted by the war in Ukraine

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – Help Spain – Information on the situation in Ukraine and the departure of Ukrainian nationals

Voices of Children – Help children of war in Ukraine

Visit Ukraine Today -Everything Ukrainians coming to Spain need to know

World Central Kitchen – One million meals served to Ukrainian families

World Food Programme (WFP) – Saving lives, changing lives – Ukraine Appeal

On the 4th weekend in October, the Bremain council headed for Malaga for our annual reunion. On Saturday 23rd, we met for the first time in 18 months, & some of us for the first time ever in person. The occasion was our annual strategy meeting during which we spent several hours debating and deciding on our future strategy.

Then on Sunday 24th, we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM), open to Bremain members. Not only were members there in person, but for the first time, we also welcomed members online via ‘Zoom’.

The AGM agenda included: a review of our accounts; ratification of minor updates to our constitution; confirmation of new council members & their roles; presentation of our Annual Report; fundraising & merchandise; our strategy going forward. We ended the meeting with a Q & A session, which included questions raised by members of our Facebook group for our Bremainers Ask Council feature.

Special thanks to all those that attended in person or virtually. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and to receive such positive feedback.

Bremain has come a long way over the last 5+ years. The fight to get rid of this government and to see the return of common sense, and all our EU citizenship rights, goes on!

Thank you for joining us on our journey and for your continued support.

Honorary Bremain member – Pablo Picasso

Dear Lord Frost,

You probably won’t have heard of me, but I’m a regular correspondent with your partner in crime, the prime minister. Perhaps he has mentioned me in passing as that irritating women with the MBE that lives in Spain.

I am writing to thank you for the light relief you have provided Remainers over recent months. Surviving Brexit was always going to be difficult, but your ongoing posturing and your empty threats have been a source of great amusement. How we laughed back in May when you described the relationship with the EU as a “bit bumpy”. And then you excelled yourself with the “command paper” in July. That one really had us rolling in the aisles!

You may think the British public are too stupid to grasp that the ‘unworkable’ deal you despise now is, in fact, the same amazing deal you previously touted. I’ll confess that, like many a pro-European, the idea that the British public – or at least those supporting Brexit – are stupid, has crossed the mind. But I think you, and perhaps the PM too, are slightly smarter than you appear. Having persuaded a large swathe of the country to want to forget about Brexit altogether is, perhaps, your one success.

The apparent bolshiness, and the inappropriate threats, have done little to build back trust with our European friends. Whether your tactics have been a deliberate attempt to undermine UK/EU relations, or merely the bungled attempts of an inexperienced, misguided “negotiator”, will continue to be a topic for debate. You would certainly not be alone in government for simply lacking the relevant skills, knowledge and tact required for the job. The Cabinet is full of ministers out of their depth, whose only ‘strengths’ are their support for Brexit and their unwillingness to criticise the boss.

While you continue to get stroppy, and underestimate your negotiating partners, the UK is collapsing under the strain. The ports are not ready, despite having had years to prepare. Businesses are struggling with staff shortages and supply chain issues. Prices are rising and shelves are empty. And still no sign of the sunlit uplands or the “benefits” of leaving the EU.

The arguments over whether your approach is designed to offend, or just does so through incompetence, will no doubt continue. Until you’re replaced by the next Brexit-loving so-called negotiator. We must remember that your predecessors were not exactly skilled in the negotiation arts either. With hindsight, we can almost back look on David Davis’s tenure fondly, but the less said about Dominic Raab, the better!

No doubt we have much more bullying, foot-stamping, throwing-the-toys-out-of-the-pram rhetoric still to come. Are we supposed to be impressed that you will not shy away from unilaterally suspending the Protocol? Certainly, the EU will not be, nor any other country considering a trade deal with Britain. Maybe it’s just all for show, and only designed to please the Brexit devotees.

We shall soon see whether the EU will, as you suggest, take the UK’s proposals “seriously”. Will they listen? Of course – they are grown-ups and skilled negotiators. Will they be flexible? Yes, as much as protecting their members, their market and their international commitments will allow. Will they bend over and take one because you get shouty and offensive? Absolutely not.

What has surprised some observers is the government’s apparent lack of understanding of how the European Union actually operates. Considering we were a part of the EU for so long, you’d have thought someone in government would have worked it out by now. What also surprised many was the government’s unwillingness to honour an international treaty that it had not only negotiated but had signed in good faith. Or so we thought.

In an effort to at least be constructive in my criticism, I have been doing a bit of, hopefully useful, research. It seems there is a huge range of advice out there for would-be negotiators. I’m sure you have had some training already, but I suspect your response in the classroom was similar to your dealings with the EU – a failure to listen and too little humility. I won’t insult you with specific recommendations – I’m sure you can manage a Google search all on your own. But I would suggest you avoid the Harvard Business School’s “Everyone can be a negotiator”, as that’s clearly not the case.

Yours sincerely,

Sue Wilson MBE
Chair of Bremain in Spain

On Tuesday 7 September, the government’s Elections Bill returned to the House of Commons for the second reading. The Commons debate coincided with an evidence gathering session of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) on the same subject.

The PACAC currently has 14 ongoing inquiries, of which the Elections Bill Inquiry is the latest.

You can watch the PACAC oral evidence session from 7 September here.

The next oral evidence session will take place from 8.55 a.m. on Tuesday 14 September.

Due to the controversial nature of the Bill, many individuals and organisations submitted written evidence to the committee, Bremain in Spain included.

You can access a full list of all the written evidence submitted, including from: Best for Britain, Brexpats – Hear our voice, British in Europe and Age UK here.

To read the evidence presented by Bremain in Spain – which includes testimonials from our members as to why their voting rights are so important to them – open the PDF

We thank everyone who contributed their thoughts on the government promise to remove the arbitrary 15-year voting rule for British citizens abroad. Whilst we agree that the majority of the Bill is undemocratic, we sincerely hope that this one positive element of the bill does not turn out to be the baby that gets thrown out with the bath water. We want our democratic voting rights restored – we just don’t want our re-enfranchisement to be at the expense of the disenfranchisement of others. We shall be following the progress of the Bill with interest.

You can read our Chair, Sue Wilson’s recent article on giving evidence to PACAC here.

“With many changes to our circumstances post-Brexit, we’re increasingly confronted with new and often bewildering terminology. Some of the old terminology can be pretty confusing too!  Bremain has therefore put together a Glossary of Terms which we hope will make things clearer and aid understanding.
We hope you will find it useful”.
Sue Wilson – Chair – February 2021

You can find the Glossary Terms below or you can download them as a PDF HERE

EFTA Member States – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

EHIC – The European Health Insurance Card gives individuals the right to access medically necessary state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in an EU or EFTA member state. It was a benefit of EU membership that covered (& in some cases, still covers) medically necessary state-provided healthcare at a reduced cost or, in many cases, free of charge, until the planned return date.

EU Member States – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Frontier worker – a person who is resident in one state but regularly works in one or more states as an employed or self-employed person.

GHIC – the new Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) gives UK residents, regardless of nationality, the right to access state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in the European Union. Whilst similar to the EHIC it replaces, it cannot be used in the EFTA countries of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland. EU residents that previously qualified for the EHIC, e.g., S1 holders, will also qualify for the GHIC, but like the EHIC, it may not be used in the country you reside in. The GHIC is for UK residents and S1 form holders registered in the country from 1 January 2021. For further information, including who qualifies, how to apply, what the GHIC covers, and much more, click here

Lawfully resident – an EU citizen or a UK national lawfully resides in the host state in accordance with free movement law before the end of the transition period. This includes the right of residence, irrespective of whether it is a permanent right of residence, its duration (e.g., an arrival in the host state one week before the end of the transition period and residing there as a job-seeker is sufficient and irrespective of the capacity in which these rights are exercised (as a worker, self-employed person, student, job-seekers, etc).

Posted Worker (or ‘Detached Worker’) – an employee sent by their employer to carry out a service in another country on a temporary basis.

Padrón – an abbreviation of ‘empadronamiento’, a padrón is a certificate obtained from your local town hall (ayuntamiento), that provides proof of residence in the municipality and the habitual residence therein.etc).

Residencia – a term often used to refer to the green EU residence certificate, or more recently, green EU residence card, is proof of residency provided by the Spanish authorities – now replaced by the introduction of the new TIE. It contains your name and tax number (NIE), and although no longer being issued, remains proof of residency. It provides evidence of the same legal rights, including those covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, as the new TIE. There is no legal requirement to replace your existing green residencia with the new TIE, though there are benefits to doing so, e.g., the new card is more durable and would be more easily recognised by other EU states when travelling.

Third country national – a national of a country that is not an EU Member/EFTA state. As of 1 January 2021, UK nationals are now 3rd country nationals in Europe, and will lose rights associated with EU citizenship, such as freedom of movement.

Withdrawal Agreement – The international agreement between the UK and the EU that sets out the respective rights and obligations of both parties, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

UKNSF – United Kingdom Nationals Support Fund is a UK-government funded scheme that provides practical support for UK nationals struggling with the bureaucratic process of registering as a resident. Working especially with the most vulnerable, the three groups providing support in Spain are: Babelia, Age in Spain and IOM.