Citizens will come first said the British ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, yesterday at a Bulletin breakfast at the new convention centre in Palma. In other words the fate of the 300,000 British citizens living in Spain and the millions of EU citizens living in Britain will be top of the agenda when the British government sits down to negotiate the divorce settlement with the European Union.
This is certainly good news. Manley did an excellent job in easing the fears of both British and Spanish businesspeople over Brexit at the event. The ambassador was asked if tourism would be affected. No, he replied, "bookings to Spain this year are up". He went on to say that there was no sign of Spanish businesses planning to end their investments in Britain and indicated that Britain was not leaving Europe it was leaving the European Union.
Manley underlined the fact that there is an excellent relationship between the British and Spanish governments. Manley is a career diplomat and it is obviously his job to try and allay fears or present Britain's position in a favourable light. But almost a year after the Brexit vote he gave a very detailed and precise speech on Britain's position as it prepares to the leave the European Union. Should we be concerned over Brexit? Well obviously yes, but Manley in the space of 20 minutes managed to ease the fears of many. Some of these fears are based on rumours and the ambassador delivered the facts which will help end the rumours.