Analysis for Retired Individuals
There appears to be a divide in the thinking of British ex-pats in Spain and their reaction to Brexit which is centred on the different requirements of the retired and the working population. Many individuals in both categories really wish that things could just carry on as before but realistically this is unlikely. Change is often slow to be embraced as it is rarely welcomed, and a change that is forced upon people is even less welcome. Giambrone has learned, from a participant in a Spanish televised debate, what the British ex-pats consider are the major concerns arising from the perceived effects of Brexit in Spain.
For those individuals who have chosen to retire to Spain the last thing they want is a radical alteration to their way of life and they are perhaps the group that is more likely to be looking the other way and hoping that there will be little or no impact. The two areas which are of the greatest concern are those relating to the payment of pensions and the provision of adequate free health care.
Pensions paid in the EU are index-linked whereas in other parts of the world this is not the case and pensions remain at the same flat-rate level. It is not known at the moment whether UK pensions paid to individuals living in post-Brexit Spain would lose the index linking or not. Clearly this is a major consideration as many people will be relying on the capacity of their pension to rise with the rate of inflation. The ability of the retired community to be able to afford to remain in Spain will be steadily eroded also due, in part, to the potential for depreciation of sterling against the euro, which may eventually, for some people, bring their Spanish life to a halt.
The second relevant factor for the retired community is whether the reciprocal free health care will continue. The aging community largely think it will remain, as the arrangement was in place prior to the expansion of the EU. Major illness and end of life care can be extremely expensive and could be a deciding factor for many. There is a huge imbalance between the numbers of British people accessing the Spanish health system compared to Spanish people relying on the NHS; Britain is not perceived as a destination of choice for retirement. If, as seems likely, Brexit means exit from the European Economic Area (EEA) neither Britain or Spain will be obliged to be involved in a reciprocal health care arrangement. However, other non-member countries have negotiated reciprocal heath care deals, Switzerland for example. For those who have lived in Spain over five years may still be allowed to access free health care, however, there may still be a requirement to have health insurance which is often not so easily obtained with age and possibly re-existing conditions to consider.
Many older British ex-pats feel that Spain will want the status quo to remain believing that they contribute to the Spanish economy and are therefore desirable to retain. Giambrone thinks that whilst may be optimistic, there is no doubt that the retired British ex-pats do make a contribution to the Spanish economy. The erosion of both the safety net of health care together with a shrinking pension, if that scenario unfolds, may be a turning point for many people forcing them to return to the UK.
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