BREXIT

....and the impact on our travelling life. 

Our life living between two countries and travelling in the EU has come to an end - in the short term through COVID and in the long term because of BREXIT. We can now only spend 90 days in any 180 days* in the Schengen Zone so, if we want to spend only half of our usual winter time in our Spanish home, we can't travel in Schengen countries until the summer. Then if we do that, we can't spend long in our home. So basically, the life that we have worked so long and hard for for is screwed; I appreciate that we've been fortunate, perhaps privileged, to make it all happen in the first place but we haven't got that much active life remaining and it's a bitter pill indeed... it's really no consolation that there thousands of others in the same boat. With family in the UK, we won't seek Spanish residency. At least we've had the tremendous benefit of living and travelling with our fellow Europeans for over ten years in our retirement and we should be very thankful for that. For the avoidance of doubt, we attach absolutely no blame to the EU here; this was an act of economic and social self harm entirely of the UK's making.

OK let's be positive from now on and readjust our horizon to the new reality... but the bitter taste left at having our European citizenship taken from us, our children and grandchildren without our consent will never go. Perhaps our grandchildren will see a more enlightened world.

* The '90 Day Rule' is often misunderstood; it's a 'rolling 90 days' meaning that at any point in time, looking back 180 days, the maximum number allowed in the Schengen Zone in that time is 90 days. Hence, looking forward, this is used to plan stays within the Zone. So, although it's possible to stay 180 days in a year, it's not possible to spend these in one block. If we spend three months in a Schengen country continuously we would need a three month break; hence no more winter months in Spain. 

The impact of BREXIT on Nerja restaurants is clear, as is the churn in properties.