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.
My column last month looked at the growing number of expats that say they would support a EU Referendum in the UK and agree with the likes of the Vote UK out of EU campaign, who’s view is that the only way that the EU would negotiate revised terms with the UK is if the UK said it was leaving.
Looking at Greece’s failed attempts to stand up for itself and hold a referendum and the potential referendum in Germany to strengthen political ties within the EU it is hard not to agree with Telegraph Political Editor Robert Winnett and Henry Samuel who say:
Merkel may call a German referendum on plans to strengthen political ties within the EU, in a move that would make it difficult for Mr Cameron to continue to resist calls for a referendum.
But I digress. I don’t want to talk about the EU this week, although I am sure I will return to it soon, rather I want to look at a topic that the above article generated comment on and that I end up debating frequently: the difference between an expat and an immigrant.
The Oxford Dictionary defines expatriate as: expel, remove oneself, from homeland; withdraw oneself from citizenship or allegiance, and defines immigrate as: come as permanent resident into foreign country.
According to Wikipedia an expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing, where residing is deemed to be the act of establishing or maintaining a place to live in a given place. Immigrant on the other and is defined by Wikipedia as the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence.
My question then is this. A retired couple that have sold everything in the UK, moved to Spain and bought a property, invested their savings in some off shore tax efficient scheme, have their pension paid here in Spain, and take up residence, are they a expat or an immigrant, or indeed both?
A young family that have ‘sold up’ and moved over to Spain to work. The children are enrolled in school, parents work, no property or investments in the UK: expat or immigrant?
I suspect that the majority would say they were expatriates, but would you really be able to argue if I called them immigrants? After all the Oxford Dictionary definition includes “withdraw oneself from citizenship or allegiance”.
What about the recently graduated student who can’t find a job in the UK and has come over to stay with some extended family members in the hope of finding some odd jobs’s while learning Spanish: a ‘gap year’ I think they like to call them. Surely they would be deemed an immigrant?
As I said above I return to this debate partly due to a comment left against last months column:
“Also most people who move to Spain take there money to Spain they are not like immigrants to the UK who have no money”
But also because I think it helps to explain why so many expats refuse to ‘let go’ of the UK, fully commit themselves to their new home, and dare I say it, have a tendency to live in the past.
You see I think today ‘we’ tend to think of expat as a temporary status. Very much like the traditional ‘posting abroad’, for many it is a career move, an opportunity to ‘see the world’ before heading home and settling down, a second property abroad for retirees to enjoy the ‘best of both worlds’. For many it is no longer a major decision, few if any bridges are burnt on the way over, and despite what you read about expats being trapped and unable to return home, they are, and in significant numbers.
And this is a double edged sword. The lack of permanency makes the decision easier for many, so enabling more to give it a go and experience a different way of life, new cultures and greater opportunities. On the other hand it is hard to move forward when looking over your shoulder, and the ease with which expats can move back home I suspect means less really work at making a go of it.
I hesitate to compare it but in many ways it is like marriage. The fact that these days it is so much easier to get a divorce means less thought is required before getting married, and less effort is required to ‘make it work’. But here I go again ………. sounding like the older generation!
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I was interviewed by a UK news site this month on what advice I would offer to people considering a move abroad. I opted to avoid the obvious one about learning the language as for many that is just never going to happen.
My advice focussed more on researching and learning the culture and traditions and adapting accordingly. By way of example I concentrated on the need to adjust your body clock. Dinner at 7pm in America and 10pm in Spain are good examples. I recalled the absolute horror on the face of my wife’s hairdresser many years ago when Sands said that she liked to go the Gym at weekends in response to a question about what we did at the weekend in the UK. We quickly learnt that weekends were for relaxing and doing nothing more strenuous than enjoy your food, drink, family and friends.
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A final reference to last months column where I said “we Brits 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.”
For anyone that feels like that I have some good news. I have found the ‘Britain of my youth’ alive and kicking along the Costa’s of Spain. Tribute bands in Costa Almeria, Traditional English Bakers in Costa Blanca, and 80’s hair and shoulder pads galore on the Costa del Sol.
Upon reflection maybe it wasn’t so great after all.
Please feel free to search on Google for the published versions of these columns.