EU elections of little concern for Brits in Spain, FT finds

Vox pop-style polls are a handy journalistic trick employed by time-pressed reporters seeking instant opinion on any topic they are trying to cover. Responses from the ‘man on the street’ can often range from the insightful and the humorous to the slightly unhinged and hilariously non-committal (“I haven’t really thought about it, to be honest,” being the one phrase you don’t want to hear)…As a litmus test of popular opinion, their veracity stands up to questioning as steadily as ‘70s TV personality in the dock. But sometimes they effectively capture the winds of change, the zeitgeist, and the feelings and thoughts of the voiceless. So much so, that even respected broadsheet newspapers like the Financial Times (FT) are not shy in employing this technique.

An article posted on the FT’s website over the weekend did just that in an attempt to lift the veil on what British expats in Torremolinos thought of the forthcoming EU elections. Pressed by the FT journalist on what matters most to them, one respondent decried the loss of the satellite feed that used to supply residents in the resort with BBC and ITV channels, bemoaning: “It’s a huge issue. People hate missing out on their soaps.”

The voice of collective reason, or a lone tirade amid a tide of varying opinions? In couching views from Costa expats on the EU elections (due to be held between May 22 and May 25), not a single expat interviewed said they would be voting – either by postal vote in the UK or locally in their Spanish constituent. Perhaps even more surprisingly, only a handful of people interviewed across a stretch of the coastline from Nerja to Fuengirola were even aware that such an election was just around the corner.

A worrying sign of misguided priorities, or a clear indication that these ‘model’ EU citizens – born and raised elsewhere but living harmoniously in another EU nation – are pretty happy with the status quo?

There is no escaping the fact that Brits living in Spain have more vested interest in the outcome of this month’s elections than most. Any major upheaval in personnel and policy at EU and European Commission level could have a direct impact on their lives – either positively or negatively. Issues such as pensions, the free flow of people, goods, services and capital, tax structures and healthcare concerns are all hot topics laid out for debate in the forthcoming elections. And each of these issues must surely matter to Brits in Spain.

In the UK, where the UK Independence Party (UKIP) is enjoying a rise to prominence that has even taken its bullish leader, Nigel Farage, by surprise, any turning of the tide against the EU could bring British people’s lives in Spain under closer inspection. If Britain was to leave the EU – a distinct possibility if certain cards fall a certain way – then EU-sanctioned rights protecting citizens living in another country could be stripped away.

The FT journalist put this scenario to Dilip Kuner, editor of local English-language newspaper Euro Weekly News. “The attitude is: the Spanish won’t chuck us out because we bring money into the country,” he remarked, echoing what is probably a common refrain in the expat strongholds of the Costa del Sol. It is probably accurate, too – Brits living in Spain are rarely a drain on local resources, and the very fact that the Costa del Sol is such a popular tourist and property destination can be traced in large parts to the time, money, creativity and skill that has been expended by Brits in Spain.

But just because there are an estimated 750,000 Brits living in Spain doesn’t mean that political matters that will directly affect them shouldn’t concern them. The official number of overseas Brits in Spain registered to vote in the UK stands below 16,000 – a figure that should surely raise an eyebrow.

However, it is not just Brits in Spain who are apathetic towards the EU elections. An Ipsos-MOR poll held last week found that of 9,000 EU citizens polled across 12 member states, only 35 per cent said that they would definitely vote.

For the sun-kissed Brits living out their dream life in Spain, such matters are evidently even further from their thoughts. British TV, sunbathing, seeing friends, enjoying a cold beer and generally getting on swimmingly in their adopted country appears to be the order of the day for most. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.