Let's talkabout Brexit
Sarah-Jane Morris meets Calpe residents
British Consul for Alicante SarahJane Morris held an interesting meeting with expat property owners in Calpe, with Brexit as the main item on the agenda.
SARAH-Jane Morris, British Consul in Alicante, answered expats' questions on Brexit in Calpe on Tuesday morning.
The consul was guest speaker at the Association of Foreign Property Owners meeting (AFPO) at the SH Ifach Hotel, attended by 133 members.
The meeting was chaired by President Keith Wildman and also attended by local councillor Carol Saunders.
The concern for many present was the impact that Brexit will have on them as British nationals living in Spain – for which they were looking for assurances from the Consul.
She spoke in an honest and straightforward way to the audience, but admitted that although the UK voted to leave the EU, “we do not know what that will look like”.
Being based in Madrid gives her the advantage of close ties and contact with the central government in Madrid and they do hold regular meetings.
It is vitally important to quote correct figures of British nationals living in Spain and therefore she underlined the significance of registering on the padrón – yet they are aware that these are not accurate.
They can get statistics from the UK health department of those accessing healthcare here, and also those receiving pensions, but that obviously does not capture the true figure.
There was a question and answer session from the floor and many present were concerned about healthcare.
Her response was: “I would like to think that there will be acquired rights for those currently living here – but we don’t know about those that would like to move here in the future”, therefore reinforcing the importance of registering if living here.
In a meeting with Valencia regional president Ximo Puig shortly after the referendum result, he assured Sarah-Jane Morris that nothing would change.
British residents make up a very large and important footprint of the Valencia region and in her opinion they will want to do everything they can to continue to make it as attractive as possible for them.
“British people moved to Spain before the UK joined the EU and had a good relationship and so there is no need to think that that will change now.”
When the double taxation agreement came into force, the number registered dropped by around 100,000 and they cer- tainly do not believe that number physically left the country, making it very difficult when trying to quote numbers to Spanish authorities.
Guests' reaction
John Pickford, U3A Calpe President, attended along with many of the association's members with the hope of gaining any new useful information following the referendum result.
He spoke to CBNews following the meeting and said in one aspect it was reassuring that there were no surprises – not meant in a negative way.
“Everybody reads the papers, both local and the UK nationals, to try and keep up with news and developments with regards to Brexit policies and there were no unexpected shocks or surprises from Sarah-Jane.”
AFPO membership secretary John Bridge said a lot of the members appreciated Sarah-Jane’s reassurances and that she did as much as she could.
“We didn’t think we’d learn too much, but it keeps people’s interest.”
Roger Wells has been resident in Calpe for 12 years. He asked the Consul a question regarding driving licenses on behalf of his partner, Sandra Curtis. She along with eight others had applied to exchange their UK license for a Spanish one as directed by law over a year ago, using a gestor, and still had nothing back. His question was: “Is this normal?”, to which Sarah-Jane replied, certainly not.
She wants to be made aware if there are instances when British nationals appear to be treated unfairly, which she can take up in Madrid.
Mr Wells said: “Most people are reconciled that the politicians don’t know what will happen, so were not expecting to hear too much”, and added that on a personal note “he trusts British politicians less than Spanish ones”, especially with the likes of Iain Duncan-Smith backtracking and withdrawing winter fuel allowance to British expats.
Tony Clarke has been resident here for 30 years and his circumstances are somewhat different to the majority in that he worked and paid into the Spanish Social security system.
He is therefore comfortable knowing that he will continue to be covered by the Spanish healthcare system regardless of any changes of reciprocal agreements between the two countries going forward.
He and wife Rita are also able to take advantage of the Imserso system, allowing Spanish pensioners to take discounted holidays, and have travelled extensively to many parts of Spain and the Canary Islands.
He said: “It was very beneficial to attend and hear what the Consul had to say, especially as there are many bar room lawyers giving their so-called misleading expert advice.”
David Staveley, secretary of AFPO, has been resident for 14 years and said that “Sarah-Jane was very positive, so many felt reassured by her words, although as suspected there wasn’t very much new information. What most of our members are worried about is healthcare.”
This appeared to be the general consensus among those attending and they will have to wait for clarity from the gov- ernment following negotiations.
Carol Saunders, councillor for citizens, has been resident in Spain for 26 years and said of the referendum result: “We’re all in limbo – we just don’t know the long-term effects.”
Benidorm security meeting
She continued to take questions on local issues after Sarah-Jane left to attend a meeting at the town hall in Benidorm. Joining her was Sara Munsterhjelm, Vice Consul in Alicante, where the pair had an hour-long round table meeting attended by the mayor, Toni Perez; security councillor Lorenzo Martinez; the chiefs of both National and Local Police; Antonio Mayor, President of HOSBEC; representatives from SATE, the Tourism Foundation, TUI and Monarch tour operators; and spokespersons for British tourists and residents.
A total of 1,486 crime reports have been registered to date for 2016, but it was acknowledged that this is not the true figure as many crimes are still not reported.
The opening of the new SATE office in the Rincón de Loix, with a date of April 17 confirmed, will alleviate this issue to a degree, but the importance of reporting all crime was reiterated.
Official figures are 30% down on the last four years – which are the only ones that the authorities can quote.
Posters warning holidaymakers of the dangers of being complacent have been approved by the Consulate and authorities and are now available to businesses to display.
The issue of installing CCTV cameras around the square, often cited as a problem area, was raised, but the National Police replied that there was a ‘privacy issue’ and that a special license would need to be obtained.
Another point raised was the area around the strip and reports on social media of brutality with ‘some’ of the doormen, which is a cause of concern, giving the resort a bad reputation.
There was a general feeing of achievement among those in attendance, and although there are still many issues that need addressing, it is “going in the right direction”.
The tour operators now hold monthly meetings to share and discuss any problems affecting their clients, which includes security and safety.