Life for ex-pats in Spain may be an Eldorado mess
Complexities lie in wait for Brits trying to ensure health care in later years, finds Denis Frize
Not long ago I sat in the Commandancia de Policia Nacional in Elche, Spain. In front of me a tall commanding figure in the uniform of those who guard Spain’s borders. I had just seen two of his comrades going out to their patrol car portaging two heavy-calibre machine guns.
Yet friendship and civility was in the officer’s tone when he asked me, “And where is Form S1?”
Never one to believe the fairy tales and blustering of politicians, I was in his office as a direct result of the Brexit vote to take out permanent residence in Spain.
And as we face the rigours of another North Atlantic ‘summer’, others may also be considering taking up residence ‘sur le continent’. In any number of TV programmes, personable young women will try to persuade you that all you have to do is transfer the money to one of these chummy estate agents and for ever more your maximum worry will be which factor of sun cream to wear. Caveat emptor.
As you read this, the 30,000 expats living permanently in Valencia are in a cold sweat. Take the man I spoke to in the market town of Al Moradi. A blunt Yorkshireman who now almost had nervous twitches. He had “beggared off ” from the UK nine years ago. Now his future depends on the judgement of Theresa May.
If she cannot swing a deal by which something like the current reciprocity on health is reached, then he and thousands of others are in Queer Street. For if you are more than six months out of the UK, you are not entitled to healthcare from the British NHS. No matter if you and yours have paid into it since Nye Bevin and your father had the VC and bar.
I watch my neighbour ‘Stan’ hirple past with his double hip replacement. Like many expats, he does not speak a word of Spanish. But he can’t go back to Britain – his Spanish NHS cover only lasts three months in UK and existing conditions are not covered.
The most affecting case I met in a bar. An ex-policeman born in Central Scotland and his wife. And she very obviously had dementia. Now most Spaniards try valiantly to learn English. But just imagine the conversation between her and a Spanish psychiatrist. They can’t come back to the UK either. And this is where we come back to Form S1 I mentioned earlier. If you become a permanent resident, you fill in form S1 and you are taken off the NHS lists. I have the confirmation from Newcastle. Now you could go back to UK and re-apply, but any ‘reprieve’ would take at least six months.
So now I read that 9000 expats have left Valencia since January. And thousands abide Mrs. May’s skill and judgement. Most of them are 60-plus, with the attendant rising ailments. No reciprocity? Then what price private insurance?
And the moral of all of this? Like everywhere else, Spain has its good points (climate, friendly people, good driving) and its drawbacks. I’ve had a house there since 1994 and lived perfectly successfully between there and Scotland. Brexit, however, means it’s time to ca’ canny. ● Denis Frize teaches English and divides his time between Dunblane in Stirlingshire and Spain.