Originally published at: Spain blocks British nationals from entering via Gibraltar | Boing Boing
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Found a better gif…
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There are a lot of candidates for “Most Stupid Brexiteers”, but the British pensioners living in Spain who voted Leave (especially the ones who saw Gibraltar as a travel loophole) are right up there.
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Well this is just another example of the EU bullying us.
We won. We left. We hold all the cards. They have to give us what we want. They need us more than we need them.
Brexit hasn’t failed us. This is just the EU - which is tiny and insignificant - bullying us.
The fact that the leaders of Leave can hold those two opposites in their heads and not notice the contradiction is why history will not be kind to them…
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Poor Britts, looks like the chickens came home to roost.
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Of course, the fact that the residents of Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly (95%) Remain is also relevant here. They were on the front line of what being in the EU meant, and they knew what a Leave vote would mean.
(The current UK government won a General Election in 2019 on the back of “Get Brexit Done”. Now that it has been, everything that was forecast is coming to pass. So I guess that they really did get it done. It’s just really, really hard not to say “I told you so.” Mostly because the fallout is hurting all of us.)
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As an American, i was thrilled when I earned a British passport in 2012…and then Brexit. Why God? WHY?!
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Fortunately every time there’s more fallout from Brexit, the Tories are right there to remind us it isn’t proper to “Have a go”, like that ass down in Kent.
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Yeah, the first couple lines of the story feel very victim blamey to me. “Foolish British people in Europe! Thinking a policy they overwhelmingly opposed would be all beer and skittles! Har har har.”
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As for the British expats in Spain, I don’t know but Gibraltar voted to remain in the EU with a margin of 95%. Source: Effect of Brexit on Gibraltar - Wikipedia
Had family and visited Gibraltar a few times in the 90s. Interesting vibe there, and definitely not just retirees. Lots of people who were born and raised there and a high fluency in Spanish.
Spain often made it hard to get in and out before the EU’s Schengen Agreement really kicked in.
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Only Wales and England voted majority to leave…
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I recall this very subject being raised years ago. It shouldn’t be a surprise.
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The lessons of FAAFO will continue to get harsher as they go, so buckle up!
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Over 95 even! So they knew it would just be a pain in the arse for them. Recently there were stories about how the waste was piling up on the island as they didn’t have an agreement post Brexit for Spain to take their rubbish.
As far as I know the British immigrants (expat is just a word for English people who want to distinguish themselves from “those sorts” coming over here and whatever) in Spain were pretty much split down the middle on Brexit. Lots of the English immigrants in France voted Brexit too.
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I mean… it’s because foreigners, like Americans, aren’t “supposed” to have British passports, right? I thought one of the key points was keeping immigrants and foreigners out of the country.
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That’s working fine here! My wife and I (US and Belgium/EU duals) used to visit London and environs every Christmas and spend a ridiculous amount of money there. We haven’t been since 2018 and have no plans to go ever again.
For people who want to visit a foreign country where the natives speak English, I recommend Ireland. They’ll be overjoyed to have you.
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I guess there’s always Blackpool for you lot.
And after, as Gibraltar was never part of the Schengen area. August 2013 is just one example where the border was dejure open but defacto closed, unless you minded waiting 7 hours to get though inspection.
A big chunk of the tourist travel to Andalusia is people - both British and others foreign to the EU - who are coming to see both the historic sites in Spain such as Seville and Ronda AND the military-history sites in Gibraltar. Probably a majority of those staying in Gibraltar, and a significant minority of those in resorts in the hill towns of Andalucía.
So the effects of this Spanish action are going to have a significant negative economic impact on one of the poorer areas of Spain.
I no longer live in Europe, but as with most articles about Brexit, when people are exulting about how Europe owned those stupid breakaway Brits, I’m thinking that once again the EU side had an obvious win-win option available to them, and several neutral options, but instead chose an option that would do themselves the most possible harm.
You’re making the mistake of thinking of the EU as an emotionless machine that will always choose the optimal solution. That’s exactly what the Brexiters were betting on with their claims of the German car industry coming to save them. Turns out we have emotions about Brexit, too (and our politicians have voters whose votes they want to win).
What would the obvious win win be, btw? The EU caving to every British demand without getting anything in return? That looks like a win lose to me.
Brexit was always going to be lose lose from the start. All the EU can do is make sure we lose less than those that caused it. But make no mistake: we all lose.
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