The Brexit countdown is underway and obviously there is concern amongst British residents living in Spain. But the advice from the Foreign Office is clear, your rights in Spain will be protected as long as you are a resident by the end of this year. In otherwords, if your paperwork is not in order, hurry, because you could be in for a shock. To be honest I am still rather amazed that some expats do not have their paperwork in order because the process couldn´t be simpler. The number of British expats living on the islands has always been a rather great area.
Officially, there are about 15,000 British residents across the Balearics. The real figure is obviously much higher probably even double. One good thing about the whole Brexit process is that the local authorities will now be able to discover just how many British expats are living here.
Over the last few months there has been a sudden surge in the number of Britons who are getting their paperwork in order which clearly underlines the fact that the advice from the Foreign Office has been taken on board and people are taking action. How will Brexit affect our daily lives? Well my hunch is that there will be little change. There will be problems which need to be ironed out but I sincerely doubt that the Spanish authorities are going to cause additional problems for British residents in Spain without good reason. I think at the moment it is a question of Keep Calm and Carry On.