After the postponement of the vote and Theresa May’s statements, Brexit returns to the present day and renews the uncertainties it has sown since the beginning of the British process of disassociation with the European Union, leaving that feeling of instability also in Spain where Brexit will affect in different ways, that we are analyzing today.
Why and how Brexit will affect Spain
Far from being a problem that is alien to our society and our businesses, Brexit is also a challenge for Spain and the entire European Union, which has been affected since the beginning of the process, suffering falls in the stock market, political and economic instability on the dates close to the referendum or falls in the IBEX.
With regard to the specific Spanish case, the situation has a much more direct influence added to the commercial relations that exist between all the countries of the European Union, since our country welcomes many British citizens and vice versa, as well as having solid commercial relations, especially in industries such as aeronautics, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and food.
Investments: the first concern
In recent years, Spain has suffered a series of economic ups and downs due to the crisis and has recovered thanks to investments from other European countries, among other things. The United Kingdom is the fifth country with the highest volume of investment and totaling 63,000 million euros spent in the last 11 years, operations facilitated by the special conditions between countries of the European Union.
These figures benefit our country especially in times of economic weakness, and will fall sharply when the Brexit materializes because the investment facilities granted by the special conditions between the countries of the European Union will cease to apply.
Tourism and the real estate sector, two of Brexit’s major players
One of the strong points at economic and commercial level of our country is the tourism sector, as we are one of the favorite destinations for our Mediterranean climate and gastronomic culture, being the United Kingdom one of the largest exporters of tourists to Spain this could change after the Brexit by the sum of difficulties and the installation of customs.
And just as tourism is an important source of employment and economy for Spain, real estate businesses move a large amount of market between nearby countries that decide to invest in second homes or move to our country; in this case the British are the foreigners who buy more homes in Spain.
Gibraltar and everyday life
Another of the keys to our relationship with the United Kingdom that has given much to talk about and has been the protagonist of different negotiations relating to Brexit is Gibraltar, as many Spaniards work in this area every day and vice versa as if it were just another extension of our territory thanks to the mobility facilities between the countries of the European Union.
The situation in Gibraltar is one of the most worrying for Spain with regard to the whole Brexit process, since there is a close spatial relationship due to the geographical proximity and the daily transit across these borders, which is a complicated issue if the resolution is not well tied up between the two countries.
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