Alex Trelinski
BRITISH residents and visitors to the Costa Blanca will be getting a new information helpline set up by the regional Valencian government.
The move was announced today(December 28) by Valencian president, Ximo Puig, after talks with three regional members of the European Parliament about the UK Brexit trade deal with the EU.
Afterwards, he announced the creation of the information service aimed at both British residents and potential travellers, in addition to his regular words of assurance to expats.
Ximo Puig said: “Our region accounts for around a third of all British residents in Spain and all of the existing public services will continue for them. If a Briton falls ill on January 1, he can still go to the health centre and get treated as usual.”
Such access is guaranteed under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, but expats have to be registered as a resident and hold a SIP health card.
Puig did not expand with further details on the new information line.
It appears that will supply potential British tourists with the latest travel rules under the new Brexit scenario, as well as details for expats that live in the area.
Puig also called on the British government to boost its consular presence in the Valencian Community and for the ‘maximum possible’ flexibility in issuing visas to British nationals who wanted to stay in Spain for longer than the new 90 day limit.
“It is difficult at the moment to assess the economic impact of Brexit on the Valencian economy, but I’m sure that it will, which is why an action plan will be designed for all sectors with concrete actions to be taken,” added Puig.
“We are going to see how we can intensify our presence to strengthen tourism, as well as in areas like food, car manufacturing, ceramics, footwear, textiles and IT.”
