Jason Moore29/04/2017 00:00
TW
0

So, there are only a handful of British and German residents left on the island, according to the official census. Figures announced this week point to a 50 per cent drop in the number of German residents and a 37 per cent fall in British citizens living on the island in the space of five years. So, why aren't the alarm bells ringing? Why hasn't the local government come out and said to German and British residents, please stay?

The simple answer is that the figures are not exactly accurate. Yes, some British and German residents have returned to their country of origin for a number of reasons, but I have not noticed a major fall in the number of British residents and I would say that the German community is bigger than ever. The truth, I suspect, is that some German and British citizens have literally "taken themselves off" the official town hall lists because they fear a crackdown from the taxman.

The recent fiscal policy announced by the Spanish Tax Office has been slammed by many, and some British and German residents have allegedly tried to disappear from the radar. Officially, there are only 15,000 British citizens living in the Balearics, a figure I find very hard to believe. In the case of British citizens it is probably better to be totally legal. I suspect that all those British citizens who have their paperwork in order will have few problems post-Brexit, but those who could be described as illegal face major problems.