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The 18th Nerja Residents’ Day took place on Plaza de España on Sunday. Thirty-four stalls represented the large number of associations, companies and other organisations that are formed by, or work with, foreigners in the town. There were music and dance performances from a number of local Spanish and foreign groups, as well as a movie quiz and the American International Club presented a donation.

More than 2,500 people attended the event that aims to demonstrate how the different nationalities that make up Nerja’s approximately 21,000-strong population live and collaborate together. Of that number, 5,970 people registered on the town hall ‘padrón’ are foreigners, 2,173 being from the UK.

However, not even the glorious sunshine and light-hearted festive atmosphere could quell concerns over Brexit, with last Wednesday’s official triggering of Article 50 still fresh in many people’s minds.

 
“There are a lot of interests at stake for things to change radically and we trust that everything will remain as normal after Brexit,” 72-year-old Anthony I. Foster, who has lived in Nerja since 1981 told SUR. The mood had changed considerably from last year’s event, when the referendum was a source of conversation, albeit with a generally more optimistic view from the town’s large British community that it would never happen.

“Thousands and thousands of Britons bought houses in Spain in the last few decades to enjoy the climate here,” Anthony, who has published the guide to Spanish property book since 1994, continued. He said has hasn’t been able to update recently as there is so much uncertainty.

The Asociación de Intérpretes Voluntarios de los Centros Sanitarios de la Axarquía, an association which started in 1987 in Nerja and which provides an interpreting service at the el Hospital Comarcal de la Axarquía in Torre del Mar, confirmed the concerns of many patients over the future of healthcare. “If we leave the EU, what is going to happen to our European health cards?” the president, Christopher Cluderay, asked. He added that between the fall in the pound and a loss of healthcare rights, “it will mean fewer Brits going abroad for their holidays and they will spend less too. In my opinion Brexit is a disaster and the worst thing about it is that many of us who live outside the UK couldn’t vote in the referendum,” Christopher concluded.

Jacky Gómez, who has run Nerja’s foreigners’ department for over 20 years and is responsible for organising Residents’ Day, was more positive: “A solution will be found and the situation won’t be as bad as people are saying,” she said.

A spokesperson from the Nerja Solidarios de Alimentos (Nerja food bank) said, “The British have a great tradition of raising money and we have been the recipients of many organisations throughout the years. It’s important for us to be here and to collaborate with different foreign associations.”source surinenglish

The UK officially triggered Article 50 on Wednesday, meaning that proceedings have started for the UK to leave the EU, rather ironically for some, on 1 April 2019.

Four days earlier, on Saturday, Rome was at the centre of celebrations, notably for the remaining 27 EU member countries. The date marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, one of the most significant documents in the evolution of the European Union, establishing it as the then European Economic Community (EEC).

Letter officially starts divorce proceedings
Rajoy reminds May that the EU will negotiate Brexit as a "united" bloc
A series of marches, the biggest being the Unite for Europe event in London, were organised to coincide with the celebrations in Rome and the Italian capital, as well as Madrid, also saw demonstrations against Brexit. Over 100,000 people attended the event in London and hundreds joined in Rome and Madrid to show their opposition to the UK's departure. The marches were also a message of solidarity towards the estimated 1.2 million Britons living in other European countries and the approximately three million Europeans living in the UK.

 
Among the participants at the London march were 50 members of the Spain-based Bremain in Spain group. Chair of the anti-Brexit movement, Sue Wilson, spoke at the march and joined big names in UK politics including the former leader of the Liberal Democrat party, Nick Clegg, and Alistair Campbell, former Downing Street Press Secretary.

In her speech Sue said, "The government is not acting in our best interests. It is not even listening to us - out of sight, out of mind. It is not even listening to the recommendations of its own Exiting the EU Select Committee. We are not bargaining chips or negotiating capital, nor are we trade or services - we are people."

Bremain in Spain estimates that far more Britons reside in Spain than the 308,821 that are officially registered and Spain is the country where most British expatriates, 30 per cent, live compared with other EU countries.

The group is also championing a petition, which must be signed by at least one million people across a minimum of seven member states, to ask the European Union to issue 'European Citizen' passports to the millions of Britons and other European citizens who are at risk of losing their rights post-Brexit.

Passport campaign

The European Citizens' Initiative is an EU scheme, established under the 2012 Treaty of Lisbon, which allows EU citizens to propose legislation. Bremain in Spain has used the initiative to launch the EU passport idea, Choose Freedom.

Existing EU legislation says the ability already exists (Regulation 1417/2013) for the EU to issue EU passports to diplomats and officials. The EU Commission has agreed that this form of passport, known as "laissez-passer", can be extended "on exceptional basis and upon due motivation, to special applicants". Britain in Europe announced in February 2017 that the Commission had "accepted that the Choose Freedom application was legally valid on this basis".

Currently, Britons, like other EU nationals living in Spain, are not entitled to dual citizenship and must fulfill a number of requisites in order to obtain Spanish nationality. The only nationalities that are eligible for dual passports are former Spanish colonies including the majority of south American countries, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea and Portugal, as well as descendants of Sephardic Jews whose ancestors were expelled from Spain.

While groups like Bremain in Spain are intent on campaigning for the rights of Britons abroad, The Three Million is a group lobbying for the rights of EU citizens living in the UK. In her speech after invoking Article 50 on Wednesday, the prime minister Theresa May stated to MPs that it is her "fierce determination to get the right deal for every single person in this country".

Concern among expats

However, despite these words and the reassurances on Wednesday of both British Ambassador in Spain Simon Manley and the Spanish Embassy in London, which set up a help desk for Spanish nationals living in the UK on the same day, residents say they are still extremely concerned about what will happen to them.

There is only anecdotal evidence at the moment that Britons really are selling up and moving back home, but a number of town hall foreigners' departments in Malaga province, including Benalmádena and Frigiliana have spoken to SUR in English about such cases.

However, many people have spoken out about their own personal situations. They include James Machonachie, whose three children were born and brought up in Aragón. "I don't feel English anymore," says the father of three who has started the lengthy process of applying for Spanish nationality. He has passed the language and general knowledge tests and is currently waiting for criminal records checks to come through from the UK.

Between January and June 2016, only 70 applications were made by British nationals to become Spanish but since the referendum the number has risen to 500.

Meanwhile Ireland has seen the biggest rise in applications for citizenship, as anyone from Northern Ireland or with proven Irish ancestry is eligible for an Irish passport, which would allow the holder to retain rights as an EU citizen. Sweden and Denmark have also seen unprecedented spikes in passport applications from Britons in the last nine months.

In February, a leaked document from the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee claimed that the future of Brits abroad would depend on the decisions of individual member states and on the rights given to EU nationals in the UK. However, according to John Muffett, a spokesperson for Bremain in Spain, "Spain won't want to build walls for those 310,000 Britons, although it would be difficult for it to do nothing."

Britons and Spaniards have been given assurances from their respective governments. They now have two years to decide if it's worth changing their passports, returning home or just waiting for the final outcome.

Sue Wilson, Chair of Bremain in Spain, is also leading the Freedom to Choose campaign, which is requesting that the EU introduces European citizen passports to all of those who are at risk of losing their rights and freedoms. The campaign must collect one million signatures from seven different EU member states to be able to be considered by the European Parliament. The web link for the organisation is:

www.bremaininspain.com

The percentage of Britons living in European countries who live in Spain. Higher than the Irish, who have an automatic right to dual nationality and therefore may remain European.

The percentage of Britons in Spain who are retired. Almost 110,000 pensioners have moved to Spain. The majority own homes and use the Spanish public health system.

The number of Spaniards who work in the UK and fear the return of the old work-visa system. The EU is against each country establishing its own agreement with the UK.

Bremain in Spain believes that the real number of Britons residing in Spain is twice the total that appears in official statistics. The other 300,000 people that are unaccounted for must also be concerned about the UK leaving the EU.

Health first

According to polls, the main concern among Britons living in Spain is healthcare. Many are worried that they would not be able to get private health insurance or that they wouldn't be able to afford it. What about Spanish companies and jobs?

Many are worried about having the right of freedom of movement taken away from them (thousands of Britons teach English in academies) and are concerned about businesses they have started.source surinenglish

The lower part of Avenida Alcalde Clemente Díaz Ruiz, one of Fuengirola's main access roads from the A-7 motorway and Mijas Pueblo, reopened on Saturday after the completion of a 2.6-million-euro facelift.

The mayor of Fuengirola, Ana Mula, announced earlier in the week that it would be a day of celebration, with children's activities and live music attracting some 3,000 people.

She added that the road, by the town's market, had become "outdated", given that the last improvement works were carried out 21 years ago.

 
The works have, over the past two-and-a-half months, revamped the 485-metre stretch of road, with new public-utility piping, improved parking and lighting, and more space for pedestrians. There is now only one lane for traffic in each direction.

Councillors have recently voted for another 1.7 million euros to be invested in the coming months to begin rebuilding the second stretch of Avenida Alcalde Clemente Díaz, towards the motorway, as well as other local streets.source surinenglish

The university hospital carried out 422 c omplex operations in 2016, the highest number since the cardiac surgery unit opened 20 years ago source surinenglish

There were promising moments, but ultimately the game followed the same pattern. Malaga are just six points clear of the drop zone after their latest defeat at the hands of Atético Madrid at La Rosaleda on Saturday evening. Goals from Koke and Filipe Luís leave Míchel still searching for his first win as new boss.

"It is natural that we are worried," he said in post-match press conference, though his side did play better football on the night than their form suggested.

The pre-match proceedings were dominated by an incident just before kick-off, when owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani was denied entry into the stadium by police who had closed off the road. He posted on Twitter: “There is no justice and no respect in this country”.

 
That sentiment would soon be echoed by fans in the ground as refereeing decisions started to go against the hosts who were looking to right the wrongs of recent weeks, with a more defensive formation which, in theory at least, would countain Atleti's striking pair and allow the pacey forward pairing of Sandro and Keko to cause the Atlético defence problems. The plan worked at one end, but the striking duo failed to create anything of note in the first half.

The visitors were equally as unconvincing, with Koke’s drive from distance, which was straight at Carlos Kameni, their only real effort on goal before the 25-year old Spaniard found himself in the right place at the right time to poke Atlético in front after a mix-up in the hosts’ defence.

Malaga largely struggled to find a reply, but a one-two between Rosales and Sandro saw Keko’s backheel from the former’s cross force Jan Oblak into action two minutes before the break.

The second half saw little creativity from both sides, with Malaga packing men into the centre of the pitch to neutralise the visitors' creators. In fact, it wasn’t until fifteen minutes from the end that the game came to life, and a minute after Griezmann fired inches wide of Kameni’s left-hand post, Torres played Filipe Luís through to send a delightful dink over the Cameroonian to all-but secure the points for Diego Simeone’s side.

In truth, the scoreline flattered the visitors who had offered very little and had been stifled by Malaga's hard work and discipline.

Sandro looked the most likely to ruin Jan Oblak's clean sheet, with his shot on the spin requiring sharp reactions from the Slovenian to keep hold of the effort.

The Canarian's expertise on set pieces also posed a threat, with a fine ball from the right evading the Atleti defence, but Llorente failed to apply the finishing touch.

He was at it again moments later as he latched onto a precise through ball from substitute Michael Santos, but failed to get enough purchase on his chip to overtly trouble the keeper.

Thing's don't get much easier for the Blue and Whites with a trip to fellow strugglers Sporting Gijón next on the agenda.source surinenglish