December 2010 The Expat Telegraph published an article I had written called Thoroughly Modern Expats.
For a number of years following I was a regular monthly columist for them.
Reading through the original articles that I submitted recently, I was taken by a) how relevant many of them still are today, and b) I had no online record of them of my own.
So I have added the original submissions to this blog, so if you want to read more of them just search for telegrapharticles, and while you are at it you may want to search for expatarticles as well to see other columns I wrote in the past for various newspapers in Spain.
Funny thing about expats is that for many they leave the UK fed up, disenchanted and frustrated at the direction of the country, yet spend most of their time bemoaning their new country and hero worshipping the UK.
That in itself is pretty strange given the recent Telegraph article regarding the uSwitch.com Quality of Life Index that ranked British quality of life as the worst in Europe, and Spain and France the top two places to live.
With respect to the UK the weather, cost of living, low pay and expensive fuel meant that 12% surveyed said they were considering a move abroad.
With respect to Spain, take out the weather from the above list and it is basically the same here: cost of living is rapidly increasing, pay and unemployment are huge issues, and while cheaper than the UK, fuel costs are nowhere near as cheap as they used to be. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and with illegal properties, unemployment at 20%, the risk of contagion and a general feeling of contra being seeded to the EU you won’t get much sympathy from the Spaniards these days.
Frying pan and fire spring to mind yet people still aspire to live in Spain, and when here spend their time and money trying to be British and longing for the things they left behind.
I have a theory as to why this is so: we live in the past! As an expat I have found that the Britain that I ‘miss’ isn’t the Britain that I left behind, it is the Britain that Britain left behind. I know I sound like my dad, but really the Britain of my youth seems so much better than the Britain of today. I am not talking about technological progress, or innovations in health that make us all live longer despite the growth (if you will pardon the pun) in obesity, heart diseases and the such. No I am talking about the fabric of society, the backbone of the country, the ‘stuff’ that made you proud. Maybe it was the fact that we weren’t exposed 24/7 to news from around the world, or that trips abroad were a rarity to be dreamt of, or meals out and the cinema a genuine treat. We certainly didn’t know anywhere near as much about what was going on elsewhere, and I am convinced that we were happier and more appreciative of what we had because of it. As they say ….. ignorance is bliss!
It is the same in Spain. In the above survey 13 per cent of people surveyed said that if they could live in any European country they would prefer to siesta in Spain. Now the siesta is still an essential part of the Spaniard’s daily structure; they embrace and protect it with a passion, but expats and siestas? Chalk and cheese I am afraid; it just isn’t something that many British expats do. As a rule the Brits that I have encountered over the years stick religiously to their old habits, and they certainly don’t embrace the siesta. The siesta exists to allow the Spaniards to take a break from the sun and recharge their batteries before returning to work until 8pm. Originally it was designed as a means of taking a break between the two jobs that Spaniards were forced to hold down to make ends meet. It is not a ‘lazy’ activity, it is a means of enabling them to work harder and longer, and they do, with the Spaniards working more hours per week than virtually anyone else in Europe, before heading home for a shower, time with the family and then a meal around 10pm. Not exactly your typical pattern of behavior for the British expats here in Spain, who according to the Aviva UK Heath’s “semi-gration” study miss most their Fish & Chips ( (with 23% of the vote) and Eastenders, which is a surprise given how many English Fish & Chip shops there are along the costa’s and how easy it is to get a Sky system these days in Spain. Another example of ‘living in the past’ I suspect.
At the risk of alienating expats across Spain in particular and no doubt across many other countries, I suspect many are living in some sort of ‘reality void’, convincing themselves that they like the country they have chosen to live in, while conveniently glossing over the issues that made them leave the UK in the first place. There are many exceptions of course Ian Watson Mitchell over on Expat Interviews being a good example of what integration and learning the language can help you achieve as an expat, but I am sure there are enough that fit the scenario I paint to be statistically relevant.
All of which brings me to the main thrust of this month’s column, the dilemma being faced by British expats regarding the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s continued membership of the EU.
I have been posting some thoughts and updates on the debate with regards an EU Referendum in the UK on my personal blog, and reading with growing interest the stance taken by the Vote UK out of EU campaign, which was previously known as the EU Referendum Campaign, but has recently re-branded and made it absolutely clear that it isn’t just a referendum they are after, but that people should vote for the UK to leave the EU.
They are not alone it seems, as the YouGuv Poll they commissioned on the eve of the Conservative Party Conference showed that two thirds of Conservative voters would vote to leave the EU if a referendum were held, with 62% of all voters in the last election agreeing that a referendum should be held.
Recently the Telegraph carried an article about expats hopes for voting reform support, and their desire that the voting legislation which currently deprives them of their UK vote after 15 years of living abroad would be overturned.
Revealingly the article stated “the disenfranchisement has long been a thorn in the side of expats, many of whom still contribute to the UK tax system or work for UK companies abroad” which begs the question as to why an expat would be so worried unless they had plans to go back to the UK at some stage, as indeed many do. If this is the case, and I have little reason or evidence to refute it, it means that expats are more than likely to be interested in the political situation at home rather than in the country that they are currently living in.
Now I can’t speak for all expats but anecdotadly I would have to agree: during the General Election last year it was the only topic being debated, the fact that there is a General Election next month here in Spain seems not to have even registered, yet just mention the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing and you won’t be short of opinion or debate.
So it is with interest that I observe that many an expat appears to be on the side of the Vote UK out of EU campaign, I suspect in no small part because they see it as an opportunity to reclaim the Britain that Britain was, not the Britain that they left in search of pastures new, as stated above. This being the case it is easy to see why this is so attractive, especially for those who adopted the expat life to ‘escape’ where they were living rather than ‘explore’ where they chose to live, but I wonder if they have thought through the consequences?
Debating this on Facebook recently I was asked if I was concerned that a vote to leave the EU would result in Spain shipping out British expats. They were referring of course to the Freedom of movement in the EU: The right to free movement is one of the basic rights of EU citizens. This right is provided for in the Treaties governing the EU and in EU Directives and Regulations. This document describes the general rules on free movement. Broadly speaking, the provisions of the Treaties in relation to freedom of movement apply in the same way to the 10 member states which joined the EU in 2004 and the two new member states (Bulgaria and Romania) which joined in January 2007.
And this is the dilemma! For many a vote to leave the EU would be a stepping stone to reclaiming the Britain that they miss, and let’s be honest a lot of expats have left Britain but Britain hasn’t left them as evidenced by the lengths they go to to retain the old customs, habits, diets and way of life. But if that were the case would Spain want to keep them, or indeed would Spain be bothered if they left. After all Spain has realised to its cost over recent years that a British expat community based heavily on retirees, living on pensions which they spend mostly in the British bars, restaurants and shops doesn’t exactly put much into the Spanish economy. Factor in the issue of Health Tourism and it is relatively easy to see that Spain possibly wouldn’t be at all worried if they left. And on the other side of the coin: would the UK want the expats back? Capital diminished by the recent effects of the exchange rate and property prices, and the inevitable failing health of the older generation, isn’t exactly an attractive proposition.
Please feel free to search on Google for the published versions of these columns.