Laurence Dollimore
SPANISH prime minister Mariano Rajoy has said Brexit is a ‘serious threat’ to Spain because of how many Brits live in and visit the country.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Rajoy pleaded for Europe to remain united and said Britain’s departure from the bloc threatened Spain’s economy.
“Brexit is a serious threat,” Rajoy said, “Without wanting to go into other considerations, I will only tell you that one in five tourists who come to Spain are British, and close to 17 million Britons visited Spain last year.”
Some 300,000 Brits are known to live in Spain, but that figure may be as high as one million as many expats do not register properly.
There are fears that further falls in the pound will make fewer Britons want to travel, while retirees living in Spain will have less purchasing power.
“I will also tell you that the United Kingdom is the first destination for Spanish companies’ investment and our third commercial partner,” Rajoy added.
He went on to say that Britain’s divorce should inspire the EU to be ‘more cohesive, more effective in its decision-making and with better political ambition.’
The PP leader added that elections in France and Germany this year will be ‘decisive’.
He said: “Spain… hopes that its two biggest partners will maintain their pro-EU vocation and their determination to push forward a project which despite all its imperfections is the best political initiative the world has seen in centuries – the EU project.”
Does Rajoy feel sorry for us poor ex-pats, the playthings of the politicians? I hope so, as he will have a large number of non-EU residents living in his country once this ghastly farce is completed. We will stop being second-class Europeans, and become, instead, third-class foreigners.
Well Senor Rajoy you could take the approach of ensuring that Brits remain in Spain and that they continue to visit, in other words do what is best for Spain and not what’s best for Germany and Brussels. A step in the right direction would be to tell Prime Minister May that Spain will guarantee the rights of Britons in Spain as soon as she guarantees the rights of Spaniards in the UK, I know Brussels has an issue with that but what are they going to do throw you out of the EU I don’t think so.
Well Pablo, I think Rajoy say’s it all. Now you can see why I always smile at you comments. If the EU play’s hard with the UK its like a nutcase running on a Spanish beach with a gun. Lol.
Hurray………..this idiot may at last be seeing sense……..for god sake educate your idiotic spanish franco followers who are anti-British…….these thick numb skulls cannot see what the real world looks like….Spain NEEDS the UK whether you like it or not…..FACT
I am a British person living in Spain. I don’t want to leave the EU and I voted to remain in the EU. I love Spain and I don’t want to leave my home in Spain. I hope that Prime Minister Rajoy will make it possible for us to stay.
As Mac said, “You’ve never had it so good”.
not many Spanish gobbing off on this story…..whats wrong, has the cat got all of your tongues……..lololololololol