BREXIT IN JÁVEA AND TEULADA
Meetings with expats held in Jávea and Teulada yesterday (Thursday)
BRITS in Spain should get ‘full protection’ when the UK leaves the European Union, says Jávea council, calling the Brexit vote ‘a collective backward step’.
A motion agreed unanimously this week means Jávea will push for the British and Spanish governments to ‘talk to each other’ and ensure expats are not hit by the ‘serious consequences’ of the messy divorce.
Around 5,300 Brits are on the 'padrón', or town census, in Jávea, but the actual resident number may be much higher.
"Excluding Brexpats from local politics is unfair"
Chulvi stresses that Brits, like all other nationalities in Jávea, are ‘an essential part of social and cultural life and the local economy’ in the town.
“Jávea’s social and financial transformation is closely linked to the major presence of Brits here since the mid-20th century, and after nearly seven decades of living with them, we choose not to leave a community which is every bit as much part of Jávea as the rest of us with no protection,” Chulvi continues.
“Our town has mixed-race families, shared businesses, multi-national friendships, colleagues, clubs, charities, plans for the future…and we’re not prepared to lose that in one fell swoop.
“Post-Brexit, our Brits will lose the right to vote in local elections as they have been able to do since 1999, and excluding over 5,000 people from political life all of a sudden is unfair and very damaging: if we want elections to reflect the wishes of the majority, we cannot cut out a huge chunk of the census.
'State of exception' for post-Brexit Brits
“In an ageing population, the thought of losing healthcare and spending power through drops in their pensions is extremely worrying,” Jávea’s leader recalls.
He also recognises that the Spaniards living and working in the UK could be affected, and the two governments need to thrash out a deal to limit the damage.
“We want Britain and Spain to establish a ‘State of exception’ for post-Brexit Britons here, in the same way as we have managed to do for non-EU citizens from countries including Norway, Iceland, Paraguay, Cabo Verde, New Zealand and Bolivia,” the mayor concludes.
Teulada
The British consul from Madrid, Sarah-Jane Morris, visited Teulada auditorium on Thursday to address concerns of residents and non-residents regarding Brexit questions.
To a full house, the agenda covered the possible legal consequences of Brexit and access to health care in Spain. In an interesting question and answer session, the consul made it clear that there are still two more years for negotiation, deals, agreements and treaties to be written.
“What we know would last about two minutes,” she quoted.
It was obvious that most pensioners were worried about losing their right to free healthcare, and the consequences of a possible loss of this benefit.
A worried elderly resident asked if he would lose his SIP card once Brexit occurs. The answer was that, in Spanish law, those claiming British pensions who are permanently resident here are entitled to Spanish healthcare. The consul said: “We will do everything in our power to make sure British lives are unaffected.”
She urged those not currently on the municipal register ('padrón') to go to their local town hall and enrol.
The consul fully understood that some people were concerned they did not speak enough Spanish to enrol on the register, and informed them that there are plenty of local Englishspeaking lawyers who could help them for a small fee.
This would then give the consul and British government a clearer idea of the number of Britons living in Spain, as currently they do not really know the figures.