Wendy WilliamsAS the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
And so it seems with the sudden deluge of stories appearing in the British press suggesting that a third of expats are rushing to return home.
In the absence of any hard facts to support this claim, it is not clear how the reports came to that conclusion.
But if a straw poll conducted by the Olive Press is anything to go by, the number is a gross exaggeration which doesn’t tell the whole story.
While no one is doubting that the economic situation is extremely bleak for many, it seems the vultures are circling in the hope that Spain will implode.
While statistics can be skewed to support almost any argument, the true story often comes from the man on the ground.
It is not a matter of “loving Spain and not intending to return home”, it is a matter of having to return home because expats have no work and/or prospects. All of us see expat families and businesses leaving at an alarming rate, especially now of the clampdown on expats with regards to healthcare and other paperwork.
The only way out of this recession is to grow out of it, but Spain does not seem to have any idea how to do this; its leadership is horrendously weak, and Rajoy is as much a denialist as Zapatero was.