By Jon Clarke
FOR many it was a vote that resonated with their heart.
They were either travelling on the velvet bus of snake oil salesman Nigel Farage, or hoping for the best deal that David Cameron could fetch us.
But either way, when the UK voted to leave (just 48.1% to 51.9%) the long-lasting consequences touched the daily lives of the thousands of British expats in Spain.
From freedom of movement issues to pension problems and from driving licence kerfuffles to 90-day visa restrictions, we’ve had to deal with them all.
And why? So a gullible, maligned group of angry Brits could explode an economic bomb below our country.
It came at a time when some of us were only just getting over the 2008 credit crunch.
Business was just starting to get back to normal and the property prices in Spain were just coming out of a very long and bitter recession.
Tourism was picking up and no surprise with the pound standing at 1.40 to the euro, meaning British visitors were set to see a rapid growth in the years following June 23, 2016.
After the vote, when the vast majority of expats in Spain cried into their morning coffees, the pound fell to around €1,15… and it has hardly gone higher.
For British expats – and especially retirees who depended on their pensions – that was a disaster.
And it got a lot, lot worse as the inflation rate in Spain reached 8.4%, not to mention the need to get TIE cards and new health cards, etc.
Now, with hindsight, the Leave campaign, run by jokers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, and backed by Nigel Farage, was the biggest political mistake ever made in Europe. Certainly this century.
While the likes of Farage and Stephen Yaxley Lennon still spew diatribes of hate and division, fortunately expected new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, and presumably his cabinet will soon be planning an EU return.
With the majority in the UK wholeheartedly supporting it and with 66% of Europeans wanting us back, it’s surely time to bite the bullet.
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