expat brits in spain watching their pennys

[yartims]

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/british-expat ... ector.html
By Isla Binnie

BENALMADENA, Spain (Reuters) - In the bowling clubs, bars and real estate agencies of Spain's southern coast, a long-established expatriate population is turning frugal as Britons fret about their future.

"There's hardly anybody out, and they're not spending a lot," said bar owner Kevin Sharp on Tuesday night, minutes after lawmakers in London snubbed Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal to leave his birth country's departure from the EU in disarray.

"The older generation is more worried. I've got a top-of-the-range beer for three euros, but they're looking at the one-euro bar over the road," said 50-year-old Sharp, originally from Aberdeen.

Around 300,000 Britons live in Spain, many of them retirees lured by the Mediterranean climate and calm pace of life, and Sharp's establishment in Benalmadena is a short drive down the coast from one of their heartlands, Torremolinos.

The Spanish government has been at pains to reassure them that their rights in Spain will be protected after Brexit.

But a sharp depreciation of the pound since the June 2016 Brexit referendum and worries about whether they can continue to enjoy healthcare and regular pension increases are taking their toll.

Britons now "might share a toastie instead of having one each," said Sue Aspey, owner of the Wigan Bar on the beach in Benalmadena.

Its menu includes Lancashire lamb hotpot and traditional British sweet dish jam roly-poly, which could be subject to import tariffs or higher transport costs after Britain leaves the bloc.

"If things are more expensive for us to buy and people on the terrace only have the same amount of money in their pockets, we'd have to absorb that increase," she said.

RELOCATION, RELOCATION

Britons in Spain are putting off bigger investments too.