Watching ex-pats in the Costa Blanca on BBC TV this morning we were astonished that two out of three thought Brexit was a good thing. Are they so cocooned in their bubble of Britishness that they don't see that membership of the EU is what allows them to live in a foreign land with relatively little administrative hassle? One person had decided to return to the UK as he could not foresee a deal under which the UK would fund healthcare.
One person was in favour of Brexit because he disliked the UK's immigration policy. The same as Spain's policy for EU nationals.
We are not so different in our tendency to stick to our language groups, buy our teabags and Marmite, go to British events, utterly fail to learn the language of our hosts. But we have come across few expats with so blinkered a view of our status in a foreign land.
Many here are concerned that health care costs will be unmanageable and are returning to the UK, some are considering French nationality (in the hope presumably that the French government will pick up the health care costs with a 100% "prise en charge"). Those of us who are pinning our hopes on a sensible deal to recognise the rights and needs of the 3 million EU migrants living in the UK and the over 1 million Brits in Europe are hoping that the statement of M Barnier, "keep calm and negotiate", will be taken on board by the "ultras" that Mrs May has entrusted with our future.
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