Jason MoorePalma28/07/2018 00:00
TW

"There was only one country which we wanted to leave and that was not Britain." This is how a German friend summed up the Brexit situation. The country the Germans wanted to leave was Greece. The Germans I have spoken to do appear to be concerned about the Brexit situation, much more than the Spanish who just shrug their shoulders and say "well you Brits were never Europeans anyway."

I have always maintained that if many European Union countries such as Germany, France and Spain had made a direct appeal to British voters during the referendum campaign, the result may have been different. But no appeal was made. The Germans are obviously concerned about the economic impact of Britain's departure from the European Union and how it will affect trade between the two countries.

Living in Majorca with a high number of British and German expatriates and of course Spaniards you do get a more European view of Brexit. Britain's departure has impressed few people on the continent and the majority do not understand why Britain is leaving, especially as they believe that "together is better than apart". I do get the impression from Europeans I speak to that they want Britain to get a good deal so that the status quo is not affected. At the end of the day I sincerely believe that Spaniards and Germans would like Britain to stay for the future of Europe.