Are we ready and prepared?
With our host country Spain already in its own political turmoil, realistically what hope can we have that those in Madrid will be worrying about Brexit? Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called a snap election for April 28 after he failed to get his budget passed after only 8 months in power. Parties united in rejecting the socialist government’s national budget and so this will be the third election in less than four years! Sanchez’s PSOE party only holds 84 of the 350 seats and relies on support of the Basque and Catalan nationalists to seize power from the PP (UK’s equivalent of the Tory party).
So how will we all fair in this shenanigan as we approach March 29 – B-Day. Let us be realistic here, no one really knows and that is the scary thing but stop worrying, as it doesn’t change anything except your blood pressure. There is panic, scaremongering and a good dollop of naivety swimming around with everyone suddenly becoming an expert on the topic, happy to give you their tuppence worth of advice. Everything is suddenly being blamed on Brexit… including the infamous Tiki Beach in Benidorm closing down by some. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry when you hear comments like that being voiced out loud.
What we have all been advised to do by the consulate is ensure all papers are in order. Padron – check. NIE – check. GREEN Residencia, either A4 or credit card size but so long as it’s green and whatever you do, do not under any circumstances laminate it otherwise it will be invalid – check. This is processed at the National Police station. Driving Licence – check.
It’s amazing how many Brits living here permanently are still driving on their UK one. The (slim) possibility that they may not automatically exchange them post March 29 has led to a flurry of applications at DGT and I understand from browsing various expat sites that there are no appointments, in Alicante at least, until the summer now. Brits have suddenly got scared that they may have to sit their driving test again – I know for sure that I would probably fail as would the majority of those that have been driving for 30 plus years. We pick up bad habits, obviously don’t know how to navigate a roundabout here… ok I won’t get you all started on that one! However, the thought of having to sit a driving test again fills me with absolute horror and it’s nothing to do with the fact that it would be in Spanish, although for many that would be an additional worry.
For ‘us young ones’ – I use that term loosely when referring to myself, that are still in employment, would we need a work permit to continue as was the case pre 1973. Hopefully those of us that are ‘fully legal’ would be ok. The big one is healthcare, especially for retired residents here. The service here is first class as I experienced last week at my local health centre.
About to take my dog London (chow) out for a walk a Russian neighbours ‘little yappy’ dog was running out on the road, with a lead but no owner in sight. I crouched down and it came to me so I took its lead in the other hand and turned to start walking back to the owners house when all of a sudden it decided to go for London. I instinctively put my hand out to push it away and the little blighter sank its teeth into my hand! I dropped the lead and screamed some expletives as blood gushed out and the owner and her daughter were slowly walking towards me. I could perfectly understand them talking in Russian and the mother exclaimed, “Oh, it’s bitten her” as she approached me, obviously clocking the blood. She shrugged her shoulders, said “lo siento’ as a passing remark and walked off ! I was fuming.
So no walk, instead I made a dash to the health centre, presenting myself and my SIP card at ‘Urgencias’ explaining what had happened. There was a queue of people waiting but when they heard dog and bite I was immediately beaconed into the consulting room where they disinfected it (I had run it under water immediately after and sprayed Savlon on), applied an antibiotic cream and asked when I had last had a tetanus jab. ‘Ummmmm’ was my answer so sleeve rolled up and was given one in my arm to be on the safe side. I was sent away with dressings, plasters and a vial of the antibiotic cream to use for the following 3-4 days but told if I felt unwell, feverish or if it looked like it was getting infected to come back immediately. I was in and out within 15 minutes.
If that had been the local
A&E department back in London I’d still be waiting to be seen in triage.
The service here is absolutely fantastic. It does make me chuckle when I listen to Brits that live here but don’t register, instead reliant on using their EHIC if they need any medical care. I once asked a lady I knew why, after living here for 30 plus years she didn’t register at the health centre. Her answer, more or less was as follows “Oh no
dear, I wouldn’t want to be seeing one of those foreign Spanish doctors” which made me laugh out aloud. Did she really think she’d get a white middle-class English doctor in the UK?! Sad but true I am afraid…