Where the sun shines

As the drama of a looming Brexit takes another dramatic turn in the High Courts, over in Spain the sun is shining.

It shines pretty much every day in southern Andalucia, any pesky clouds soon chased away, any unexpected rain welcomed with an air of surprise.

Over there, and with Spain home to an estimated 800,000 ex-pat Brits, you would expect panic or at least a repressed worry to be permeating the air.

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After all, the ramifications for Brits abroad are unclear under Brexit.

This should be concerning both for them and the Spanish who benefit hugely from the constant influx of cash from middle-aged to retirement age adventurers who relocate – and holiday home investors.

I travelled over with a family member to explore property, at possibly the worst ever time with the pound’s value against the Euro plummeting and for no explicable reason, house prices on the rise.

Over there, the estate agents – mostly British, Spanish speaking and assimilated into a multi-cultural society – seem pretty unconcerned by Britain’s looming exit from the European Union.

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They admit buyers are thinking about Brexit, but with volumes of house sales and prices actually rising since the vote, they are bullish about the future.

This situation works for both countries and they see no real reason it won’t post exit.

Agents talk of positivity within the ex-pat community, admitting that many even voted for Brexit.

Why? I asked.

They are against immigration into Britain, they want to protect the fair shores of their homeland from incomers, the irony of which appeared to have escaped some of them.

I also spoke to many residents selling their homes.

Their stories were all too familiar.

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Many relocated 13 or 14 years ago in the boom and now, facing their twilight years and, in some cases, serious illness, were moving back home to be near children and grandparents.

The healthcare system is excellent in Spain, that is not the issue.

They have loved their adventure.

Not one mentioned Brexit, it is merely a pesky fly in the ointment of an endless summer for Brits indulging in their own personal series of ‘House in the Sun’.

Until the storms begin.

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