When the British ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, visited our offices this year we discussed the issue of healthcare post-Brexit. Now, obviously this is one of the main concerns of British residents in Spain. As we all know Spain has an excellent healthcare system. Just look at Majorca; we have two first rate hospitals which were built under 10 years ago. But the ambassador pointed out that the British government does effectively pay for healthcare in Spain for British citizens. Basically, at the end of the year the British government gets handed a bill by Spain stating how much healthcare used by British citizens actually cost. The British government returns the favour. Now, all this is part of various European agreements but as they say even in the National Health Service, there is no such thing as a free lunch!. So, I would rather like to dispel some of the concerns expressed by British citizens living in Spain over the issue of healthcare. As we know it is early days and Britain has still not triggered article 50, the actual European Union divorce, but I do believe that the issue of healthcare for British citizens in Spain and Spanish citizens living in Britain will be nicely resolved and pretty quickly. If healthcare had effectively been free as a result of a European agreement then I would think differently but at the end of the day the British government is paying footing the bill. So no change, I suspect.
Free healthcare
15/12/2016 00:00
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The British government doesn't foot the bill for all of us. They don't pay for those of us who have paid into the Spanish system and receive Spanish pensions or for those who are currently working and paying contributions here. And we will continue to be covered here after Brexit just like we were before Spain joined the EU. But for the remaining British people here it's still just guesswork what will happen.