# British "press" making Spain look bad



## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

I am not one to get wound up (well, I am pero bueno!).. but once again the "British Press" here in Spain it, just like the press in the UK, in my opinion painting a very bad impression about Spain and the processes.

I refer to this article in the "Euro Weekly News" which, lives up to it´s usual reputation for quality and accurate info!









Deadline Looms For Unregistered Expats in Spain


Deadline Looms For Unregistered Expats In Spain That Have Until March 31 To Return To The Uk. A Brexit deadline is looming that could see thousands of




www.euroweeklynews.com





In brief its talking about the deadline of 30/3 for unregistered Brits to leave Spain. But then goes on to blame Spain and Covid for not processing applications on time. 

_"With the coronavirus pandemic causing delays at regional authorities, it is estimated that thousands of Brits who made countries like Spain their home for several years who have not yet obtained residential status, could be forced to return to the UK"_

Lived here several years? Hello?

It then even quotes one man who states

_"Mr X, who has lived in Spain for more than two years, ITV News Europe Editor James Mates that he was one of those that missed the deadline to apply for residency and now faces having to return to the UK.
“It was naivety on my behalf,” he said. “I didn’t put mine in until just after [the deadline]. And then it has been knocked back, shall we say.” He is appealing against the decision but should that not succeed, he will have to leave the country. He says he is one of the thousands of other UK nationals in the same position."_

I mean...NAIVETY? Brexit was 4 years ago. The campaigns and info were hard to miss. Then there was a full year to register and the initial process could be done electronically right until the end of that period.

Later in the article, to be fair they do have comments from social media, people who share my opinion but the headline of this article and intro to it really get my blood boiling, but not as much as the Brits who are claiming "poor me" when they have lived here ILLEGALY for so long and I am sure in some cases without paying any type of taxes or contributions, some no doubt illegally claiming benefits from the UK and "popping back for the prescriptions" etc. 

It´s these people that give the rest of us hard working, tax paying, legal residents a bad name!

Rant over


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

They really should let us all stay unconditionally really given how much money we spend 😉


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

Not really British press is it, a Spanish company. How else would you expect them to sell that rag without headlines like this


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

EWN

I've seen it referred to as Europe's Worst Newspaper. 

The video of the James Mates interviews which were shown on 22/3 on ITV news seem to have disappeared. 

I saw it yesterday, & to be fair, this time they do seem to have quoted directly from the interview!


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

Isobella said:


> Not really British press is it, a Spanish company. How else would you expect them to sell that rag without headlines like this


Thats why i used the inverted commas!!!


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

xabiaxica said:


> EWN
> 
> I've seen it referred to as Europe's Worst Newspaper.
> 
> ...


They may have quoted but... in the lead in to the story there are three ways of reporting this...

1) Thousands of Brits have been failed by Spain for not allowing them residency and Spain is a horrible place with lots of red tape (not their words but you get the idea)
2) Thousands of Brits could have missed out because they didn´t bother to do anything for many years despite Spains extensive efforts to accomodate them!

Was just a gripe with the way it was put across whether by the EWN or ITV!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

xicoalc said:


> They may have quoted but... in the lead in to the story there are three ways of reporting this...
> 
> 1) Thousands of Brits have been failed by Spain for not allowing them residency and Spain is a horrible place with lots of red tape (not their words but you get the idea)
> 2) Thousands of Brits could have missed out because they didn´t bother to do anything for many years despite Spains extensive efforts to accomodate them!
> ...


*''Spain has gone out of its way to make things as easy as possible for Brits living in Spain, even though Brexit wasn't caused by Spain'' *just doesn't make for a good story, does it?


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

xabiaxica said:


> *''Spain has gone out of its way to make things as easy as possible for Brits living in Spain, even though Brexit wasn't caused by Spain'' *just doesn't make for a good story, does it?


No. But thats why i dont trust any media these days!!


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## sydneyhorn1 (May 27, 2017)

A better explanation of the situation here:









Tears flow for Brits as they head home to avoid being deported as illegals in Spain


Tears flow for Brits as they head home to avoid being deported as illegals in Spain: Brits this weekend across Spain, leave the country




global247news.com





It has a couple of examples of Brits returning "home" including a guy who voted for Brexit but didn't think it would affect him!!!

It also says the authorities are already targeting around 500 Brits who will become illegal immigrants in a few days time.

Does anybody know anyone who is leaving because they couldn't get residency or may be didn't even bother trying? 

Do you think there will be a lot of Brits staying on illegally in the hope the authorities don't have the resources to chase them down?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Isobella said:


> Not really British press is it, a Spanish company. How else would you expect them to sell that rag without headlines like this


Actually it's free, financed by advertising. But the same argument applies. Clickbait rules!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

*"They cite the lookey lookey men who are all illegal in the main from Africa and never get rounded up..."*

No, they aren't all illegal by any means. Many have been legal residents for years.
Yes, they do get rounded up and if they don't have proper documentation they are deported.
But why let the facts spoil a good meme.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Its crap. Another example of how English speaking publications need to make every bit of news entertainment. Its basically news for the "Strictly" generation. Anything factual and objective is too boring and " intellectual " for its readers. I like The Express for its totally limited content range: Brexit, Harry, Sturgeon and Gary Lineker !!!


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

sydneyhorn1 said:


> Does anybody know anyone who is leaving because they couldn't get residency or may be didn't even bother trying?


No, but I know a few who finally registered as residents in Spain last year after years of living here - as long as 15 years in some cases.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

One of the EWN’s regular columnists is the odious Leapy Lee. Says it all. The owners are a glamorous middle-aged Marbella based couple, the Eusdens. Mrs. E. used to travel around Marbella in a pink Bentley convertible. She became converted to evangelical Christianity but that didn’t stop the paper publishing ads for ‘personal services’.

I’ve said before that there are no rules as to how you live in Spain although I scoff at the ‘living in the REAL Spain’ set but it does piss me off when rags like the EWN spread the image of anyone living within sniffing distance of Marbella or Torremolinos as either a vacuous hedonistic Eurotrash bimbo or Medallion Man or a brain dead beer guzzling, Coronation Street addicted Daily Mail reading moron.

And as I’ve said (many times before) ‘Sobre los gustos’ and all that but nevertheless it rankles. When we moved to the Costa del Sol from Prague many of my left-wing friends greeted my decision with raised eyebrows. Uninformed snobs. When they came to visit, probably hiding the fact they were flying into Malaga from their ‘woke’ mates, they were surprised to find that my neighbours were all Spanish, I didn’t know any fugitive criminals and that there was real Spanish campo all around us. 
An experience of life in what is my ‘real’ Spain only slightly dented when out of curiosity they picked up a copy of EWN at the local gasolinera.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

kaipa said:


> Its crap. Another example of how English speaking publications need to make every bit of news entertainment. Its basically news for the "Strictly" generation. Anything factual and objective is too boring and " intellectual " for its readers. I like The Express for its totally limited content range: Brexit, Harry, Sturgeon and Gary Lineker !!!


I suppose I’m included in what you patronisingly refer to as the ‘Strictly generation’. If you read my previous post you’ll perhaps understand that not everyone over fifty living in Spain or anywhere for that matter is an intellectually challenged moron.

Some people are sufficiently broad- minded and intellectually curious enough to be able to read and enjoy a wide variety of media. I read The Daily Mail because it’s free and a good entertaining read if you don’t take it seriously. I also subscribe to The Times but I’ve given up on The Guardian because of its relentless pursuit of ‘woke’. When I come across it at my local gasolinera I take home the EWN as well as Sur, a more measured English language publication.

My criticism is aimed at the EWN and its lazy assumptions and isn’t intended as a sneer at the possibly tens of thousands of British and other English- speaking immigrants who read it. And as for ‘Strictly’, not my thing although many decades ago when in my teens I won medals for ballroom dancing - there wasn’t much else to do in the village I grew up in. The fact that I did a mean paso doble didn’t prevent me from going to university and for many years being an avid Guardian reader😜


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lynn R said:


> No, but I know a few who finally registered as residents in Spain last year after years of living here - as long as 15 years in some cases.


Yep!

I'd be surprised if we didn't all know at least one couple like that!


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> I suppose I’m included in what you patronisingly refer to as the ‘Strictly generation’. If you read my previous post you’ll perhaps understand that not everyone over fifty living in Spain or anywhere for that matter is an intellectually challenged moron.
> 
> Some people are sufficiently broad- minded and intellectually curious enough to be able to read and enjoy a wide variety of media. I read The Daily Mail because it’s free and a good entertaining read if you don’t take it seriously. I also subscribe to The Times but I’ve given up on The Guardian because of its relentless pursuit of ‘woke’. When I come across it at my local gasolinera I take home the EWN as well as Sur, a more measured English language publication.
> 
> My criticism is aimed at the EWN and its lazy assumptions and isn’t intended as a sneer at the possibly tens of thousands of British and other English- speaking immigrants who read it. And as for ‘Strictly’, not my thing although many decades ago when in my teens I won medals for ballroom dancing - there wasn’t much else to do in the village I grew up in. The fact that I did a mean paso doble didn’t prevent me from going to university and for many years being an avid Guardian reader😜



You clearly have no problem blowing your own trumpet ( maybe you were a member of Miles Davis' quartet too!)


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Why not....I'd rather she did that than the constant bitching about the UK or the negativity towards Brits in Spain or the wouldn't want to live here when old. blah blah blah .. Some people are simply positive and confident whilst others just moan about everything and everyone.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

kaipa said:


> You clearly have no problem blowing your own trumpet ( maybe you were a member of Miles Davis' quartet too!)


No medals for trumpet playing.
Just dancing😏

Grow up. It helps you get a better view on life.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Megsmum said:


> Why not....I'd rather she did that than the constant bitching about the UK or the negativity towards Brits in Spain or the wouldn't want to live here when old. blah blah blah .. Some people are simply positive and confident whilst others just moan about everything and everyone.


5
Sadly true. Not just about the usual moaning about fellow Brits who in their eightieth decade don’t learn Spanish or those who choose to spend their retirement in the sun amongst fellow Brits.
There seems to be a tendency amongst some people to classify people into categories and ascribe them certain views and attitudes. Take Brexit, for example: I think the decision to leave the EU was a huge mistake but I really hate the way in which Brexiteers are routinely written off as thick, brainwashed, ignorant and, IMO really offensively ‘gammon’. There is a case to be made for Brexit , Tony Benn made it decades ago- was he a ‘gammon’? - although I don’t think it was made in the run up to the Referendum.
Labelling people who disagree with you as stupid or sheeple is surely counterproductive if you are concerned with serious argument with the aim of changing opinions. Causing riots, damaging property and injuring people is not likely to persuade people that a Bill intended to restrict demonstrations is a bad idea. Calling people racist when they advocate immigration controls is more likely to harden attitudes. Stopping people going to work as did Extinction Rebellion won’t persuade them of the danger of global warming.
Same with running down the UK. No I will never go back to live but the country of my birth gave me a good start in life, a good education and thus enabled me to live away from it. Yes there are things that need changing but it’s a better, more tolerant and welcoming country than some I could name.
Putting people into categories whether of age, ethnicity, sexuality or tv viewing habits is surely wrong and blinkered. As is being sure of being right, a harmful luxury I’ve never had. I won’t have a tombstone but if I did I want inscribed upon it Cromwell’s words to the Scottish Bishops: ‘ Consider, brethren, ye may be wrong’.
Wonderful words.


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## xicoalc (Apr 20, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Sadly true. Not just the usual moaning about fellow Brits who in their eightieth decade don’t learn Spanish or those who choose to spend their retirement amongst fellow Brits.


Ohhh I am with you on this... don´t get me started!!!


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## blondebob (Aug 16, 2019)

mrypg9 said:


> Sadly true. Not just the usual moaning about fellow Brits who in their* eightieth decade* don’t learn Spanish or those who choose to spend their retirement amongst fellow Brits.


I agree many do look old but surely not that old 😅


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

blondebob said:


> I agree many do look old but surely not that old 😅


Ha ha. I’m slow today obviously as I had to read your post twice before I cottoned on😜😩😜😩

Im not that old yet but feel it sometimes when I reflect on the crap going on these days.


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## Melosine (Apr 28, 2013)

As per mrypg9, after almost 2 decades have no desire to return to UK, a country of which I feel privileged to have been born and spend 60 wonderful years in, but with ageing bones the need for sun and warmth for most months of the year is paramount.
As for those who believed, and still believe, they are above the law i have no time for and hope they get their comeuppance. 
Those in my area are always the ones to complain about foreigners in UK.
Isn't that just typical


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## ksjazzguitar (Dec 22, 2010)

> _“It was naivety on my behalf,” he said. “I didn’t put mine in until just after [the deadline]. And then it has been knocked back, shall we say.”_


That is my favorite line in the news report. Really? You have to be "naive" not to know that if you miss a deadline, there might be consequences? You've had years of notice and you miss the deadline and you are somehow a victim? I do feel some sympathy for people that are having their lives turned upside-down, but at some point people also need to accept responsibility for their own inaction. You're living in a foreign country, know and follow the rules.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

ksjazzguitar said:


> That is my favorite line in the news report. Really? You have to be "naive" not to know that if you miss a deadline, there might be consequences? You've had years of notice and you miss the deadline and you are somehow a victim? I do feel some sympathy for people that are having their lives turned upside-down, but at some point people also need to accept responsibility for their own inaction. You're living in a foreign country, know and follow the rules.


In fact there has been no deadline! And there hasn't been one announced.

Potentially, Spain could refuse applications after today, since under EU regs, you are supposed to register within 90 days of arrival, but we shall see if they indeed do.

As long as he could have proven that he was legally living here before the end of 2020, with EU level income & healthcare requirements satisfied, even applying after 31/12/2020, he ought to have been approved.

We are now hearing of refusals on a daily basis. Many many seem to be because healthcare insurance wasn't in place before 1/1/2021, so strictly speaking, they weren't living here 'legally'.

Others though have been running businesses, apparently paying tax etc., but never previously registered. Strictly speaking (again) they should have registered long ago, & perhaps that's why they are now being denied.


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## ksjazzguitar (Dec 22, 2010)

Perhaps. In all fairness I am not super informed on the issues because I am not British and haven't yet moved to Spain, but just going off the quote, taking what the speaker said at face value. To me it sounds like, "I missed the deadline. Why can't I do the thing?" It also sounds a lot like you are describing the same type of thing - people not doing what they are supposed to and then getting slammed with consequence. It reminds me of my neighbor that for years parked his car in a place that said No Parking. He got away with it for years. Until one day his car got towed. Then he was angry at the city. I just don't understand that. I worked with another guy that had never paid any taxes (he kind of lived under the radar, a lot of cash transactions, nothing illegal, except for not paying taxes). They finally caught up with him and he had to pay massive fines and even spent a little time in jail. He represented himself in court (bad idea) and his defense was that the government had implicitly agreed to this because they had never stopped him and it was their fault that this went on for 15 years.

It's tough. Society has these rules. Some of them are meant to be taken literally. Some of them are nudge-nudge-wink-wink. And sometimes it can change unexpectedly. If you live in a society for a while, you can kind of get a sense for where that society is on that spectrum, and you get a sense for which laws need to be followed to the letter and which ones don't. But I know that when I've been in foreign countries, I've always tried to stay as legal as possible. And if I'm _living_ in a foreign country, on a _visa_, I am going to be dotting every "t" and crossing every "i". That goes double if I am running a business.

I have this rule of thumb that when people are trying to make an argument, they start with their best evidence - Why would they start with anything less? From what I read, the best evidence was someone that by his own words missed a deadline and suffered the logical consequences of that. I realize that there may be other cases of people being genuinely screwed. If that's the case, the article should have lead with that instead of this person. To me it just came across as a whiny Karen.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

So, it seems the Spanish equivalent of ICE aren’t lining up to chuck these poor souls out as from 1 April. They will still be given the opportunity to register and become legal residents if they want to stay in Spain. Though of course it will cost them a whole lot more than if they’d done it a year ago ...









Brits in Spain spooked by post-Brexit status


The end of free movement makes living in Spain more complicated — but fears of imminent deportation are far-fetched.




www.politico.eu


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## Relyat (Sep 29, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> 5
> Sadly true. Not just about the usual moaning about fellow Brits who in their eightieth decade don’t learn Spanish or those who choose to spend their retirement in the sun amongst fellow Brits.
> There seems to be a tendency amongst some people to classify people into categories and ascribe them certain views and attitudes. Take Brexit, for example: I think the decision to leave the EU was a huge mistake but I really hate the way in which Brexiteers are routinely written off as thick, brainwashed, ignorant and, IMO really offensively ‘gammon’. There is a case to be made for Brexit , Tony Benn made it decades ago- was he a ‘gammon’? - although I don’t think it was made in the run up to the Referendum.
> Labelling people who disagree with you as stupid or sheeple is surely counterproductive if you are concerned with serious argument with the aim of changing opinions. Causing riots, damaging property and injuring people is not likely to persuade people that a Bill intended to restrict demonstrations is a bad idea. Calling people racist when they advocate immigration controls is more likely to harden attitudes. Stopping people going to work as did Extinction Rebellion won’t persuade them of the danger of global warming.
> ...


How wonderfully put. 
I know that everything I do is right......... However, that doesn't mean that there isn't a better way of doing it or that I am right, just that I haven't found it yet. I continue my search.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I


Relyat said:


> How wonderfully put.
> I know that everything I do is right......... However, that doesn't mean that there isn't a better way of doing it or that I am right, just that I haven't found it yet. I continue my search.


Good luck with your searching👍👍
If we aren’t prepared to subject our views to scrutiny and reasoned criticism we might as well give up thinking. It would be like walking blindfolded. I know I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things over the years whilst sticking to basic values. As you get older you look back and examine your opinions in the light of lived experience. At least that’s what I do.
Sometimes I envy people with firm convictions, whether religious or political. It must be nice to be certain of things.
But most of the time I’m glad I’ve still got a brain in reasonable working order to question things and that there are people around who engage critically with my views and get me to think again.
Isnt that how humans progress?


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