Of course you can stay in Spain, minister tells British expats

Spain’s Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis told the BBC: “Many Brits come to Spain to live or retire; we want to keep it that way.”

Worries about Brexit and its potential fallout may have vanished from the headlines in recent months, but for many people they remain an irritant, a background noise of unanswered questions and worrisome “what ifs”.

And while there is still unlikely to be any 100% bonafide decision any time soon on exactly what Brexit means for Brits and EU citizens, the noises being made by politicians with a say and a sway in the matter are positive ones indeed…

At the weekend, for example, Spain’s Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show that Even if the UK leaves the European Union without striking a deal on Brexit, British people living in Spain will be allowed to stay.

The current impasse between No. 10 and Brussels is a continuation of the political problems the two factions have faced ever since last summer’s referendum result. The complicated nature of the divorce discussions means that there remains no one-true-cause that British PM Theresa May wishes to protect above all. Free trade is one, but that comes with problems. Ditto the free movement of people – immigration fears have made that one a hot topic, too.

However, for EU citizens already living in the UK, May has made some concessions that their situation will not change. Similar words were uttered by Dastis at the weekend.

“I do hope that there will be a deal,” he told Andrew Marr before adding: “If there is no deal we will make sure that the lives of ordinary people who are in Spain – the UK people – are not disrupted.”

Dastis went on to say that Spain and Britain enjoy a very close economic and social relationship. “Over 17 million Brits come to Spain every year and many of them live here or retire here, and we want to keep it that way as much as possible.”

Spain is the most popular destination for Brits living elsewhere in the EU. Official statistics from the UK puts the number of Brits living in Spain at 308,805, although the actual figure is at least double that. Around one-third of Brits in Spain are aged 65 or over, the same source states, and that proportion is growing.