Jeremy MacClancy and Fiona Ferbrache organised a lively 'Brexit and beyond' debate late April in the University of Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Alicante province, Spain. Participants included Liz Bell, the British Vice-Consul, Alicante, and Hugo Griffin, a Consular Officer; and representatives from 3 campaign groups: Margaret Hales, ECREU; Zoe Adams Green, Bremain in Spain; James Simpson, EUROPATS; as well as members of the press, British residents, and a pair of Spanish sociologists.
The main themes debated were: the nature and style of the Brexit campaigns; the aims and activist work done by the campaign groups since the referendum; the need for them to publicise their efforts more broadly; the emerging coalitions, Continent-wide, between different groups; a series of more pragmatic issues (rights of residency, access to health care services, guaranteeing of pension rights, aggregated pensions, etc.) The question was also raised whether British residents in Spain would be prepared to forego their British citizenship for the sake of securing the above rights. We also discussed who are the unregistered British residents in Spain, how many they might be (a majority of the UK resident population, some considered), and why they do not register.
The meeting ended with lunch and a giant paella. The event was covered by Informacion (Alicantine newspaper) and Costa Blanca News (regional English-language newspaper); the Univerisy of Miguel Hernandez also released a video on the debate, interviewing both MacClancy and Ferbrache. This event and the next one, in the Dordogne, are funded by the ESRC Impact Acceleration Scheme.
Our next meeting is on the early afternoon, Friday 2 June, 1.30pm onwards, at:
the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Dordogne
Pole Interconsulaire
295 Boulevard des Saveurs
24660 Coulounieix-Chamiers
(just south of Perigueux).
