And so I've been researching retirement migration for over a decade now, focusing
particularly on older British people in Spain and recently this has led me to
explore erm the impact of Brexit. So in February this year I spoke to 25 erm, so I did
interviews with 25 British pensioners in the Costa del Sol and asked them about
their initial reaction to the referendum and if this changed their future plans
in any way. So there are 168 thousand British pensioners resident and
registered in Spain but this is people who are a resident erm registered and
there's many more who maybe are not registered or who only spend part of the
year in Spain. So who are these people? Brits in Spain, you've got your
stereotypes but older British people are actually quite diverse. What does unite
them is their love for Spain and the fact that it enables them to have a
better quality of life from the better climate which can alleviate health
problems and also cheaper living costs and better weather mean people can enjoy
a more active and outdoor lifestyle. So there's a strong sense of community
among British people in Spain especially among in the Costa's. Most make many
friends, join social clubs and events and have a much better quality of life and
social life than they would in the UK. Now of course on the other side of this
they're a growing number of people who have become older, frail and vulnerable
and do need additional care and support. Some people might want to return to the
UK in their old age but actually most people I've spoken to said that they
would prefer to stay in Spain, that's where their home is and they've lived
there often for a decade or more decade or more so see Spain as their home. So
what does Brexit mean for these people? Mostly it's led to a huge amount of
uncertainty, people my spoken to talked about betrayal, talked about uncertainty,
talked about shock and, and as I say they sort of needed to sit down and sort of
have, have big discussions. So what is the biggest worry? Healthcare is the biggest
worry. British pensioners currently receive free health care through
reciprocal arrangements existing between EU countries.
This might not be guaranteed post Brexit. People might need to
pay or use private health care which isn't often available to those over 75
or with previous health conditions. Many British people in Spain live on a
British state pension and are actually only just surviving. Pensions should
remain and I expect to remain exportable but the annual index-linked increment
might not. Also the exchange rate fluctuations and the drop in the value
of the pound has a knock-on effect for these people. Brexit also has an
impact on identity, especially their identity as European or British citizens.
People talked about no longer being able to identify with Britain and felt
abandoned by the UK government. What I want to do now is just tell you the
story of a gentleman, Ralph, who I met in Spain in February this year. So Ralph is
in his 90s, he moved to Spain over 30 years ago and actually he moved on his
doctor's advice. So when he was in his 60s he developed severe arthritis and
other health conditions and was told moving to a sunny climate would, would
alleviate and sort of help that. So like many others he chose Spain. Spain is
sunny, his pension could go a bit further because it's slightly cheaper to live
there. So he moved to Spain and his health showed remarkable improvements
and he enjoyed many happy years in Spain. Nearly 30 years later, unfortunately
his wife has died, he's, as I say he is in his 90s, he's become frail and is struggling to
cope. He can't walk unaided for example. So he has some help from social services
and also pays for a private carer for a couple of hours a day. He has a British
state pension, nothing else, he just rents his apartment and he's now really
struggling to cope. A drop in the value of the pound has meant that his state
pension no longer covers his living costs and actually what he's having to
do is cut back on the amount of care that he pays for. Having said that,
despite his poor mobility, he does still get out and about on his electric
scooter. He goes to coffee mornings hosted by Age Concern and he also goes
to a weekly karaoke night, doesn't drink, that's just that's where his friends, his
friends are. He gets out and he has a sing. He
has lots of friends in Spain and actually none and no-one in the UK anymore.
Spain is his home and he doesn't want to return but he's worried that if health
care doesn't continue that he might have to. So Ralph and many other British
pensioners in Spain are worried that they might have to return to the UK,
especially in the case, for example, of a no deal or hard Brexit. Most of the people
have said that if they would be forced to return, Spain is their home, that's
where they live and they don't want to leave. Now the question of course is what
happens if hundreds of thousands of elderly British people return to the UK?
So as this image by a Brexit campaign group in Spain depicts, how
would the NHS cope? So currently the UK pays around 3,500 euros to
cover the health care of every British person living in Spain, every British
pensioner living in Spain. But if you actually calculate the actual cost of
return of these people, if you take into account the NHS, social care costs,
benefits like winter fuel payments which are no longer exportable, things like
pension credit, which undoubtedly know where many of the people I've spoken to
would be entitled to and housing, not just the financial cost, but also housing
stock. The British government would be worse off and services would really be
stretched to breaking point. Also the emotional strain of return would leave
people really quite heartbroken having to leave behind their home and their
friends in Spain. So there's a massive range of issues to consider. So I just
wanted to end by sharing with you something that I'm doing, a new website
www.supportinspain.info which I've been developing with the British Consulate in
Malaga. This contains information in both English and Spanish on a range of topics,
that is designed to provide information around Brexit on things like health care,
returning to the UK and even things like homelessness. So we launched the website
in the Costa del Sol a couple of weeks ago. The idea is to support British
people and their families as well as the charities,
doctors, social workers etc who are currently struggling to support the
growing number, number of elderly and vulnerable British people in Spain and
also the growing need for information and advice during such times of
uncertainty. I just thought I would end on a couple of pictures from my launch event.
Thank you very much.