- Title: EU referendum worries Britons in Spain
- Date: 25th May 2016
- Summary: BENALMADENA, SPAIN (RECENT) (REUTERS) BENALMADENA TOWN SITTING ON THE COSTA DEL SOL COAST EUROPEAN, WELSH, IRISH AND UNION JACK FLAGS BILLOWING ON BEACH PROMENADE UNION JACK AND COUPLE WITH CHILD ON THE BEACH IN THE BACKGROUND FOREIGNERS AND BEACHGOERS WALKING ON PROMENADE BEACHSIDE RESTAURANT SIGN READING (English) "FRESH FISH ON BBQ, STEAK HOUSE, PAELLAS" PEOPLE ON THE BEACH PEOPLE SUNBATHING EUROPEAN FLAG AND PEOPLE WALKING ON THE BEACH IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON THE BEACH PEOPLE WALKING ON PROMENADE PEOPLE DRINKING ON BAR TERRACES IN BONANZA SQUARE, AN AREA OF TOWN POPULAR WITH BRITONS BRITISH TOURISTS SITTING AT A TABLE TERRACE OUTSIDE THE EURO BAR OWNED BY JOANNE RIMMER FROM ENGLAND WOMEN SEATED AT TABLE EATING TAPAS AND HAVING DRINKS VARIOUS OF RIMMER PREPARING DRINKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOANNE RIMMER, 52-YEAR-OLD OWNER OF EURO BAR FROM ENGLAND, LIVING IN SPAIN FOR 10 YEARS, SAYING: "Because it's so easy to get into England from the EU, you don't need a visa, you don't need anything, you know. And all these Romanians, the Eastern European countries especially are now part of the EU, and I think that's going to make Britain suffer economically because they can just come in and all they want is benefits." RIMMER GIVING CUSTOMER CHANGE RIMMER WORKING RIMMER'S T-SHIRT READING "EURO BAR, BENALMADENA" (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOANNE RIMMER, 52-YEAR-OLD OWNER OF EURO BAR FROM ENGLAND, LIVING IN SPAIN FOR 10 YEARS, SAYING: "I won't get a British pension, I won't get anything out of Britain. What does concern me is that my family, my children and my grandchildren, still live there. It does frighten me what condition that country is going to be in in the next ten years if they stay in England, I mean staying in the EU, you know, because the economy is going down so much all the time." CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE EURO BAR VARIOUS OF MICHAEL BOAKES FROM ENGLAND, HAVING A PINT OF BEER WITH AN ENGLISH FRIEND PINT ON TABLE NEXT TO A BOOK ABOUT DAVID BECKHAM (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL BOAKES, 72-YEAR-OLD RETIREE FROM KENT, ENGLAND, LIVING IN SPAIN FOR 9 YEARS, SAYING: "I live in Spain, they live in England. That's their problem, not mine. I just love this place. I'm so happy here. It's beautiful. Look ... you can't go wrong, can you? Beer, cheap." BOAKES'S FRIEND LOOKING ON SIGN READING "BENALMADENA COSTA DEL SOL" WITH WHITE-WASHED OLD TOWN SQUARE IN THE BACKGROUND COUPLE ENJOYING A BEER IN TOWN SQUARE OUTDOOR CAFES IN OLD TOWN SQUARE BRITON SITTING ON BENCH READING THE DAILY MAIL WHITE-WASHED HOUSES IN TOWN SQUARE SIGN WITH UNION JACK FLAG ANNOUNCING ENGLISH COURSES TOURISTS ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS AND WALKING AWAY EXTERIOR BENALMADENA TOWN HALL WRITING ON CITY HALL READING IN SPANISH "TOWN HALL, BENALMADENA" MOSTLY BRITISH AUDIENCE AT TOWN HALL INFORMATION SESSION FOR FOREIGN RESIDENTS LEAFLETS ON TABLE READING (English) "LIVING IN BENALMADENA" FOREIGN RESIDENTS IN AUDIENCE LEAFLET WITH INFORMATION BEING READ CITY HALL TRANSLATOR STANDING NEXT TO THE MAYOR OF BENALMADENA AND TOWN HALL STAFF, SAYING (English): "We will tell you today a little bit about the town, how it works, so first we will talk here and then we will do the tour through the whole building." FOREIGN RESIDENTS LISTENING RESIDENTS LAUGHING DURING PRESENTATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) BENALMADENA MAYOR, VICTOR NAVAS, ADDRESSING FOREIGN RESIDENTS, SAYING: "Just to say welcome to everybody. Now you're going to see how the town hall works from the inside and we will like to help you about any doubt you have about the way we are working, about the taxes, about anything you have a doubt. I don't speak English very well, just a little bit. So if you like I can try to speak English." NAVAS ADDRESSING FOREIGN RESIDENTS MAN CUPPING HIS EAR WITH HIS HAND AS HE LISTENS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAUREEN CONDICK FROM BRITAIN, RETIRED, LIVING IN SPAIN SINCE 1985, SAYING: "I think it's going to leave England in a terrible mess if we come out of it, because we worked hard and got into it and we are part of the community, and then if we come out we are a small little island. You know, it's like losing your relations in a way. I think it's ridiculous." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN BENDALL, RETIRED FROM LANCASHIRE ENGLAND, LIVING IN SPAIN 8 YEARS, SAYING: "I think a lot of it will be the health side, the tax side and everything else because obviously we are fiscal residents, we get the health. I think then it would change a lot of things we rely on now at the moment." STACK OF LEAFLETS TITLED "LIVING IN BENALMADENA" TORREMOLINOS, SPAIN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON BEACH LOOKING AT CRUISE SHIP DEPARTING CRUISE SHIP DEPARTING
- Embargoed: 9th June 2016 11:40
- Keywords: Brexit Britain European Union EU referendum vote Spain
- Location: BENALMADENA AND TORREMOLINOS, SPAIN
- City: BENALMADENA AND TORREMOLINOS, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0014JB3TQF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Sun-kissed coastlines, cheaper property and the Mediterranean lifestyle have led hundreds of thousands of Britons to make Spain their home over the last three decades, raising concern amongst some of the 800,000 registered British residents about the United Kingdom's possible withdrawal from the European Union.
After Spain joined the EU in 1986, British arrivals in Spain increased and by 2014 data showed the country had become the most popular destination for British migrants in the EU. The number of Britons residing in Spain also exceeds other EU nationalities who have chosen the Mediterranean country as their home.
Briton's have made their mark in the Costa del Sol where the 180-kilometre coastline west of Malaga is dotted with British pubs and schools, and fish and chips sits alongside paella on the local menus.
Despite great concern over what a possible "Brexit" would mean for health care, pensions and work permits, Britons in Spain, like those in the UK, are divided over whether they want to remain in the EU.
Like many of her compatriots, Joanne Rimmer has used the EU's right to free movement to settle in Spain.
Rimmer has been living in Benalmadena for 10 years with her husband. She owns the Euro Bar in the town's Bonanza Square, an area popular with British tourists and residents where many bars are British-run.
Rimmer says she has no intention of moving back to the UK, but believes Britain would prosper if it left Europe, citing immigration as her main concern.
"It's so easy to get into England from the EU, you don't need a visa, you don't need anything, you know. And all these Romanians, the Eastern European countries especially are now part of the EU, and I think that's going to make Britain suffer economically because they can just come in and all they want is benefits," the 52-year-old tells Reuters, echoing the argument of proponents of the Leave campaign.
Rimmer says remaining in the EU affects Britain's economy negatively and she will vote while thinking about the welfare of her children and grandchildren who remain in England.
Should Britain vote to exit the EU, it is unclear what sort of relationship the country would negotiate with the rest of Europe, its main trading partner, and what that means for the British who now live in Spain.
Retiree Michael Boakes from Kent is unconcerned and believes it will not affect him.
"I live in Spain, they live in England. That's their problem, not mine. I just love this place. I'm so happy here. It's beautiful. Look ... you can't go wrong, can you? Beer, cheap," says the 72-year-old Euro Bar regular.
In Benalmadena town hall, where local authorities were holding an information meeting for foreign residents, many British residents expressed great concern over a possible Brexit.
Thirty percent of the population of Benalmadena is made up of foreign Europeans. Ten percent of them are British, making Britons the largest single group in the town located 12 kilometres from the Andalusian city of Malaga.
"I think it's going to leave England in a terrible mess if we come out of it, because we worked hard and got into it and we are part of the community, and then if we come out we are a small little island. You know, it's like losing your relations in a way. I think it's ridiculous," says retiree Maureen Condick, a former secretary and model who moved to Spain in 1985.
One of the biggest worries amongst Britons residing in Spain is access to public healthcare. About 35 percent of the British residents officially registered in Spain are over 65.
UK pensioners registered as residents in Spain have free access to healthcare under a reciprocal EU deal, and without it, some couldn't stay because they couldn't afford to pay for a private plan.
There is also a risk to the level of the state pension should the UK drop out of the EU. Outside the bloc, in countries like Australia, the government has frozen the level of state payouts for retired Britons.
Those who own their only home in Spain also fear they would be unable to afford to buy property if they had to return to the UK.
"I think a lot of it will be the health side, the tax side and everything else because obviously we are fiscal residents, we get the health. I think then it would change a lot of things we rely on now at the moment," says retiree John Bendall, who has been living in Benalmadena for eight years.
Working-age Britons in Spain hope that in the event of Brexit, an agreement could be reached to allow them to continue living and working there. Such a deal could also help the 93,000 Spaniards who live in Britain.
Spain only issues work permits to non-EU citizens for certain occupations and if no other Spanish or EU candidate can be found, and they can take up to eight months to come through.
Britons with residence outside of the UK for over 15 years cannot vote on June 23.
In the case of a vote favourable to the Leave campaign, the UK will have two years to negotiate its new relationship with the EU. For some Britons resident in Spain, adopting Spanish nationality may be an option in the event of a Brexit. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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