British expats in Spain could forfeit their rights to live and work there if the referendum vote favours leaving the EU, Spain’s acting prime minister has warned.
Mariano Rajoy noted that forgoing free movement rights would be “negative for everyone”.
“I have no doubt whatsoever, as I have repeatedly stated, that it would be very negative if the United Kingdom left the European Union. Negative for everybody, for the United Kingdom, for Spain, and for the European Union,” Rajoy told Spanish news agency EFE.
“But, above all, it would be very negative for British citizens: the European Union is based, ever since its foundation, on the principles of freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capitals.”
More than 400,000 British citizens live and work in Spain, while 100,000 Spanish citizens live in the UK, he said.
“Leaving the European Union would mean that British citizens would lose their right to move freely, work and do business within the largest economic area, the largest market in the world,” he said.
If the vote results in Brexit, Spain would not be obliged to continue to provide free healthcare to anyone who is not a citizen of the EU.
Separately, Brexit campaigners have talked about the possibility of introducing an immigration system based on points. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said it would likely be “unavoidable, inevitable” that European nations would impose a points system on Brits.
