Spain expat remark shows that some in EU want easy transition

Some government estimates relate to the number of UK citizens living in other European countries and some relate to the number of UK-born people living there. Either way, Spain is thought to have the largest number of such residents, and France one of the next biggest number (after the Republic of Ireland).

One official estimate puts the number of Britons in Spain at almost 310,000 and the number in France almost 200,000.

That is half a million people at least. It might be that the actual figure is considerably higher.

Many people across the UK dream of being able to retire abroad, particularly in those two nations.

The weather is much better than it is at home, but they are not too far for return visits. Property prices in both countries are much lower than in Britain, particularly than in England (but lower even that Northern Ireland, which also has lower prices than most of England).

Spanish and French are not difficult languages to learn.

To date that population movement has worked well. British people are mostly welcome in those two countries, even France, which is proudly patriotic and has a long history of rivalry with the UK.

Britons who settle abroad tend to be affluent and often buy homes the local population might otherwise struggle to sell.

Brexit has unsettled this group of expats, in much the same way that it has unsettled EU citizens resident in the UK.

It was good then to hear Alfonson Dastis, Spain’s foreign minister, saying that they will be allowed to stay in his country even if there is no Brexit deal.

This is a reminder that there are powerful voices in the EU that want a smooth transition in EU-UK relations post Brexit. And it echoes recent indications from Theresa May that EU citizens in the UK will not be bargaining chips in talks.