ENGLISH VERSION
Jordi Navarrete remarks that “many of them have spent over half their lives in Spanish and Valencian towns” and it is therefore “unfair they be deprived of their rights by Brexit, while the Spanish people retain theirs in the UK”.
2nd May, 2018
The Senator from Castelló, Jordi Navarrete, on behalf of his party Compromís, will defend tomorrow at the Foreign Affairs Commission the debate on the Valencian coalition’s motion, with the purpose of ensuring that the thousands of British citizens settled in Spain – over 300,000 of which more than 90 000 are based on Valencian territory – are able to retain their rights and their British-Spanish dual nationality once Brexit takes place.
According to Senator Navarrete, “it is unfair that, while the Spanish people based in the UK will be able to retain their rights, those who wish to do the same here will be instead forced to give up their nationality, legal status and rights like suffrage, which has a particular impact at a local level, as many of them are town councillors and the percentage of British population is significant”.
In the motion scheduled to take place on Thursday at the Foreign Affairs Commission, the coalition will suggest opening negotiations with the Government of the United Kingdom so that British citizens are able to obtain their dual nationality, this being reflected in a convention likewise to those signed with Andorra, Ibero-America, the Philippines, Portugal or Guinea, “a procedure that the Popular Party has incomprehensibly vetoed and therefore conveyed their position on an issue that will affect thousands of our fellow citizens and neighbours”.
The Senator maintains that “the Spanish State still has time to find a fairer and less traumatic solution for those who are based in our country, have jobs here as well as children, so they don’t want to give up either of their nationalities before the UK officially abandons the EU.
The Senators of the party Compromís have asked the Popular Party to consider their request and to go further in order to consolidate British citizens’ dual nationality, so that we can “weave together a framework which favours those who hold both Spanish and British citizenships, without them having to see themselves cut off one of these identities”.