If one adds to the pandemic the “Brexi ‘ and rounds it out with being a newcomer to the UK, the combination can be, as they say, explosive. “I practically took the last plane that left Spain,” he recalls Guillermo Migoya, from Gijon and residing in South London. We interrupted him at the end of a long working day that already started at 4 in the morning due to Christmas shopping ‘online’. In Tesco, where he has been working practically since he arrived in early March. «I had a bit of a bad time, at that moment everything was very stopped, they asked you for a role for which, in turn, you needed another; but I have finally achieved ‘pre-settled status’ ”, a temporary residence permit that becomes indefinite after five years.
Through this situation they have already passed Amparo Conde and Maria Salvador. Circumstance that allows them to face the culmination of ‘Brexit’ with some tranquility. In fact, they do it from Asturias -Gijón and Avilés, respectively-, where they take advantage of the festivities to take a few days off. ‘I came to the UK 25 years ago; first, the typical way, to learn English, working in the hospitality industry and then moving towards better things, until I made the leap to the airlines, ”says Amparo. And there he adds, now at British Airways, 20 years. “They say that from January 1 we will have the same rights, although we never thought that we would be in this situation and in the spotlight in this way.” That point of view is, for example, that, despite having spent more than two decades residing and paying taxes in the country, they were forbidden to vote in the referendum. “I have friends who have considered going back because it is not pleasant, it shows in the atmosphere, there are areas where they do not want Europeans,” he adds.
–Maria interrupts. Of those situations meet in first person. It happened to him while traveling by public transport. “I was chatting with my family on the phone, in Spanish, and they rebuked me saying I was in England and you have to speak in English.” To avoid falling into a wrong prejudice, he also relates a radically opposite situation: “Several young people have approached to apologize and make it clear that not all British people are like this.” Amparo, who after so many years living in the country, already has his inner circle there, adds that “the British are respectful and polite and at a dinner with friends he is not going to clearly tell you what he thinks; it is very difficult to deal with the subject ».
Although they may well seem isolated anecdotes, they are a clear example of the polarization in the United Kingdom. “In my company they gave us training on how ‘Brexit’ will affect our day to day ‘”, says María, who is responsible for a consultancy for Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. In other words, a labor thermometer very close to reality. “Interest in coming has dropped a lot due to uncertainty, whether a visa will be necessary or if more obstacles will be put in place.”
–And that’s where the gijonés comes in Nacho Morais, founder of Frank Consulting -consulting public, financial and political affairs- and treasurer of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom (‘Spanish Chamber UK’). In addition, he was an activist for the stay and, for a few weeks, a British citizen. Part of this 2020 has been dedicated to guiding companies on the new commercial relationship that will open from January 1. In a very summarized way: «We are waiting for the zero quota and zero tariff agreement to avoid adhering to WTO rules and, on the other hand, the problem of adapting to other non-tariff barriers, such as health certificates and labels , and for which there will be a moratorium of six months. He himself, in his role as a businessman, will be affected, not in the domestic business but in the cross-border one, since the authorization of the CNMV to operate in Spain will lose validity. “But even domestically there will be an effect of the second round, that is, the consequences of the slowdown in the economy as a result of leaving the European Union.”
Already appealing to his activism, he reiterates what the rest of the protagonists did: the polarization of society. “The problem with ‘Brexit’ is that it has created two types of people in conflict that did not exist five years ago”. Precisely, for Nacho the great challenge is “to reintegrate society, and to do it from a socioeconomic point of view.” A challenge in which he himself, he assures, will continue to be involved.
–The rest, only Maria is seen leaving in the medium term. Amparo is concerned “about how everything evolves from the moment I want to collect my pension.” Guillermo, for the moment, only insists that “he would repeat what he had done with his eyes closed.”
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