Spanish Consulate in Manchester to reopen due to Brexit

SPAIN will reopen its Consulate in Manchester in response to popular request from expats who are starting to panic about getting appointments in time to resolve their affairs before Brexit and to register to vote in the general elections on April 28.

National government spokeswoman Isabel Celaá says the office, which was closed in 2011, will once again serve the north and north-west of England, North and West Yorkshire, East Wales, the West Midlands, East and South Yorkshire and the Isle of Man, although not Cumbria, which is covered by the Consulate in Edinburgh - one of only two currently open along with London.

Since Manchester closed eight years ago, 'the number of Spaniards resident in the UK has grown considerably', says Sra Celaá.

"In light of the situation of an imminent Brexit, we need to reinforce Consular presence in the UK to offer legal security to Spaniards living there and help them with all the information and admin they require," she announced yesterday (Friday).

The spokeswoman, who is also minister for education, recalled that from the end of 2011 to the end of 2018, the Consulate in London had gone from 68,668 Spaniards registered to 128,232, and Edinburgh, in the same period, had increased from 10,782 to 25,326.

And this only represents around half to a third of Spaniards living in Britain, who are believed to number between a quarter of a million and 300,000.

"The perspective of an imminent Brexit makes this situation even more of a concern, since even if the UK approves its exit deal and implements a transition period until the end of 2020, it's obvious that the level of worries and amount of questions among our nationals living in the UK will increase as this time draws to a close and, with it, so will consultations, transactions and applications to the two Consulates in London and Edinburgh," Sra Celaá argues.

She also referred, in her press conference, to the European Parliament's having agreed visa-free travel for British nationals post-Brexit up to a maximum of 90 days in every 180 days, and to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament's having qualified Gibraltar, officially, as a 'colony'.

"This is a great step forward for Spain," Celaá said.

Gibraltar is said to be furious at the move.

However, prior to the UK's joining the European Union in 1974 - and voting to remain in it the following year during a public referendum - the Rock was indeed officially known by the British government as a 'colony'.

In more recent years and given the negative connotations of a 'colony', Gibraltar has been known as a 'British enclave' or an 'overseas territory'.

The photograph shows Isabel Celaá (left), minister for energy transition Teresa Ribera (centre), and minister for work and pensions Magdalena Valerio (right), during the press conference following Friday's Council of Ministers in which Celaá announced the reopening of the Consulate in Manchester.