EU Referendum!

I´ve just got back from the shop.  I walked in early with Darrell and Jamie.  They are heading into Alicante today, mainly to the airport, to hand in their CV´s, then into the City to do some shopping.  Me, well, I would rather stay at home, rest, do some writing and a bit of cooking.  Back to work tomorrow, and with all the walking I have been doing, I really need the time to relax.

​In the shop, I picked up the weekly copy of The Costa Blanca News, and was struck by the headline `You could loose it all!` The headline is in reference to the up coming EU referendum in The UK.  It makes for scary reading and offers a stark warning to all those expats that live and work here in Spain.  Yes you really could loose it all.  This is of course, not a headline you would hear in The UK, because it does not relate to the average UK Citizen!

​Let me first talk a bit about your average expat, living here on The Costa´s.  They are not wealthy, they do not have an endless supply of money and they take nothing from The British State.  They all have either worked hard or are indeed working hard to survive.  Like us, they claim no benefits, nor do they want to and they are contributors to The Spanish Tax System.  These people have chosen to move abroad for a better quality of life.  A lot of the people I have met have illnesses that require a warmer climate and others, like my partner and Jamie, just want to live a life that gives us more opportunities and an existence British people could only dream of.  Remember NO ONE, has taken anything from Britain and in the main have paid their dues to The Treasury over many years. In many cases they have had entitlement to benefits withdrawn, whilst all the while, Britain continues to pay benefits to foreign citizens, who haven´t even done a days work in their new chosen Country.  This does not happen here in Spain, none of us are entitled to anything.  This is the reality here at least, not what you read about expats in the newspapers or see on television.  We do not constantly sit on our terrace drinking wine, soaking up the sun!

​You have a vote coming up soon in The UK.  ¿In or Out?  Quite a simple question.  Should we leave The EU or work to make changes to the current system from within.  Now for me, this was always an easy choice, before coming to live in Spain.  I wanted out.  I did not want any more of my taxes wasted paying for this huge lumbering institution, which had no credibility left, in my eyes and the eyes of many others at least.  We had no option, leave and forge our own destiny once again. ¿What´s the worst that could happen?

​I guess you already know what I am going to say next.  ¡I have changed my mind! Yes, since living here on The Costa Blanca, I have indeed adjusted my views.  My vision of the expat communities, across the EU and indeed the World, were much the same as others.  The are wealthy and indeed I had very little care for their plight.  Well I now live as an expat, in a wonderful community, the likes of which is long since dead in The UK, with hard working, modest people who are the most positive, motivational and wonderfully creative bunch of individuals, I have ever met and ¡I understand their fears and worries, because I now share them, all of them!

​Nobody knows what will happen in the June vote.  I am still of the opinion that The UK will vote to leave The EU and that saddens and worries me.  This should not be a vote based on emotion, the consequences should be carefully weighed up and an opinion as to how one is going to vote, should be based on factual information.  The campaign, from what I have seen on British television, is now assessing the serious issues involved in the event of a OUT vote, and there are many!

Currently, if you have retired here or are working you will be entitled to free healthcare, just like the Spanish.  Although not part of the Schengen agreement, the entitlement comes through EU law.  Personally I am paying for private health care, as do many Spanish, as a sort of top up to the current system, but for those pensioners on low incomes for example, they could loose this right.  It would be disasterous for them and a return to the UK, would be likely!

​The subject of residency also raises its ugly head.  ¿Would those who have residency based on their European credentials loose their rights?  Chances are they will, as Britain would no longer be a part of The EU.  There are many risks involved in voting NO.  The risks to those I know here, and have formed friendships with, are very real and pressing!

​Of course no one knows what the outcome will be, but remember, when you put a cross in the box of choice, think how your decision will effect others.  Not only us expats, but also jobs and the freedom to move around Europe, the future direction of The EU, which if a part of, we can influence and what will replace this institution.  Europe will not just carry on, as is, with its relationship with The UK.  Things will change dramatically and that is something you should all be aware of!

​Vote to stay in, included, not excluded.  Vote for change inside The EU, not outside.  Above all vote for the future, your children´s future and for the future of The UK and Europe!

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