ARCHIVED - The hard work lies ahead as the UK leaves the European Union

The Spanish tourism sector is amongst those questioning what the future holds post-Brexit.

As the UK prepares to officially leave the European Union on Friday night many British people may be experiencing feelings of euphoria, sadness or indifference, but whatever their attitude towards Brexit none of them should be lulled into a sense that everything is now sorted out, particularly if they are expats living in an EU country.

The British government has repeatedly reassured people that when they wake up on Saturday morning the world will not be a vastly different place for them, and that their rights and obligations will remain the same. But that is because Saturday morning marks the start of an 11-month transition phase during which it could be said that the complicated part of Brexit really starts.

The transition period, which could be extended if necessary, has been established to allow negotiations to take place regarding what the future relationship will be between the UK and the EU. In the meantime, until 31^st December 2020, it is true to say that very little changes, but until the negotiations have ended and the new relationship has been defined it is impossible to say for certain whether the differences will be drastic or minimal.

It is by no means certain that agreement will be reached at all on some points – or indeed on any, with pessimists pointing out that a no-deal scenario is still not entirely impossible - and while the wider issues such as trade barriers are usually considered the most important the same holds true for relatively small details such as the validity of UK driver’s licences in Spain: they will continue to be valid until the end of this year, but after that who knows? Not the DGT Spanish traffic authority, according to information supplied to Murcia Today a couple of weeks ago!

In this context Hosteltur, a Spanish organization working with hotels and the tourism sector, is warning on Friday that while most Britons believe that their lives will not be changed by Brexit that is a serious error of judgement, and that the Spanish tourist sector must provide reliable and coordinated information for British visitors as the negotiations progress. Small details agreed upon will have far-reaching effects on travellers, according to Enrique Feás of the Real Instituto Elcano, who likens the departure of the UK on Friday night to the end of an intermediate sprint in a cycling race in which the mountains still have to be climbed.

Sr Feás stresses that the right to free movement and travel remains unaffected for the next eleven months, and therefore he anticipates little effect on the Spanish tourism sector this year – or longer, if the transition period is extended. But in the longer term he is sceptical regarding the chances of a trading agreement similar to the one between Canada and the EU being agreed upon as British companies are already inextricably allied to European customers and suppliers.

Regarding tourism, it still has to be decided by the EU whether British visitors (to Spain and all other EU States) will require visas in the future, and although Spain is one of the countries most affected the decision will be made in Brussels. Where Spain will have a far freer hand is in deciding on issues such as the degree of medical cover supplied to visitors from the UK, while the issue of travelling with pets is another which might seem trivial but could seriously affect British nationals with second homes in this country.

It is with reference to small details such as these that tour operators and others in the sector face the challenging of constantly supplying accurate and reliable information to their British customers, and this is bound to prove difficult. Even if negotiations are concluded this year as intended – and Enrique Feas believes that such a short timeframe will be sufficient only to avoid a collapse of customs services at the frontiers – the “new era” (as Boris Johnson describes it) brings with it huge uncertainties regarding the future of easy trips to the Costas from the UK.

Will it be necessary to acquire a visa? No-one knows, but probably.

Can visas be obtained for over 3 months? No-one knows, but it may be necessary to limit the amount of time spent in Spain before returning home.

Will it still be easy to buy property in Spain? No-one knows (although to protect your rights if you are contemplating moving to Spain it is advisable to do so during 2020, while still in time to initiate the process of acquiring guaranteed residency and healthcare before the transition period ends).

Will UK roaming still be allowed on phones in Spain? Probably not.

In essence, Sr Feás is of the opinion that whereas until now coming to Spain from England has been no more difficult than travelling to Scotland, in the future it will be more like going to the USA.

And in the longer term, if an advantageous agreement is not reached regarding air travel by the end of the transition period, he believes, some routes may disappear from airline scheduling. If then at a later date a better solution is found, airlines may have already established other viable alternative destinations, and as a result an irreversible downward spiral will have occurred in the number of British people travelling to Spain.

In short, while Boris Johnson urges people to “look ahead with confidence to the global, trail-blazing country we will become over the next decade”, it would perhaps be more prudent to remind them that although their worlds will not change between Friday night and Saturday morning, in the medium term they may alter significantly. Assuming that everything will work out fine might make matters easier for a while, but while it would be foolish to assume that life will become impossible for expats it would be equally misguided to suppose that no complications lie ahead.

“Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” is indeed a fine slogan to appear on the commemorative 50p pieces being issued, but however strongly people subscribe to those three ideals it is difficult to see how they might compensate for the loss of some of the benefits of belonging to the EU.

And the Spanish tourism sector is certainly looking ahead without rose tinted spectacles regarding the future of Spanish tourism post-Brexit.

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