‘BAD NEWS’: Andalucia minister reacts to Boris Johnson victory after experts warn Spain’s southernmost region could lose €1.1 BILLION thanks to hard Brexit

‘BAD news.’

That’s how Juan Marin, the regional tourism minister for Andalucia, described Boris Johnson’s victory last night.

Speaking to journalists today, Marin added that the almost electoral landslide by the UK’s Conservative party was also ‘bad news’ for the UK, and ‘very bad news’ for Europe and parts of Spain which rely heavily on British tourists.

Marin spoke of how Johnson will likely apply a ‘hard Brexit’, an outcome Andalucia had feared the most.

The minister said several measures had been put in place in case of such a result.

These include an extra €1.4 million to promote the region in the UK in 2020.

Marin said he was ‘optimistic’ that British tourist numbers could be ‘maintained’ despite a hard Brexit.

However he also spoke of the dangers facing the region’s agricultural industries, for which the UK has long been a vital market.

He added that he hoped ‘common sense’ would prevail and that companies, citizens and residents would be protected.

It comes months after economic forecasts showed a hard Brexit would cost the region’s economy up to €1.1 billion.

The region is particularly vulnerable to the economic shock of a disorderly UK exit as Britain accounts for €4.5 billion worth of investments annually.

After nine years of sustained growth, Andalucian exports to London fell by 10% in 2018 which pushed the UK behind Germany, France and Italy.

Economy Minister Rogelio Velasco said back in April: “We have made calculations under different scenarios, in the worst case, it would cost us €1.1 billion and in the best case, something around €500 million.

“The Andalucian companies that export to the United Kingdom have already redoubled their efforts to export to other countries, such as Germany, the United States or Asian countries and compensate for possible losses.”

On average businesses in Andalucia export €2 to the UK market for every €1 invested in goods from British companies.

Meanwhile, expats made up up a fifth of all foreign real estate buyers in 2017 with 2,643 homes purchased in Andalucia.

The UK also sees the most visitors to Andalucia, with more than three million travellers each year spending a total €1.8 billion.