Visit to the Canaries

12 November 2009

Last week I spent a couple of days in Tenerife and Gran Canaria on a visit to formally “launch” the new Consul, Matthew Vickers, meet the island authorities and find out more about the British Community on the islands.

We estimate that some 80,000 British nationals live in The Canaries, for at least part of the year (the so-called “swallows” come out just for the winter months) and there are about 3 million British visitors every year. Links with Britain are deep and strong. We have had a Consulate in Tenerife since the 17th century. Lord Nelson lost his right arm there in an unsuccessful attempt to take the Port of Santa Cruz and Churchill visited Las Palmas on several occasions to paint. We share a strong maritime tradition. British businessmen and investors played a crucial role in the development of the islands’ economies in the 19th and 20th centuries both by facilitating trade in goods such as coal, fruit and vegetables and by helping with the construction of new infrastructure such as the port in Las Palmas and electricity works. These links have not been forgotten and I was warmly welcomed wherever I went.

The Consulate in Tenerife is one of nine British Consulates in Spain (we also have 12 Honorary Consuls). Having now visited them all, I can personally say what an excellent job they are doing to help British residents and tourists when they get into difficulty. But of course, with over a million residents and up to 17million British tourists, they cannot do it all on their own. We rely heavily on support from a wide range of British voluntary organisations and associations. Recently, with the value of the pound falling against the euro and the decline in Spanish property values causing problems for many British resident, our partnerships with organisations like Age Concern España and the Royal British Legion are invaluable in helping us to provide practical support for those who find it difficult to cope.

It’s important also to remember the services provided by the Spanish authorities. One thing that surprised me on my travels was hearing that many British nationals living in Spain do not bother to register with their local town hall. I do not know why this is: Fear of officialdom? Language problems? Concerns about privacy? Whatever the reason, and leaving aside the fact that registering is required by Spanish law, those who don’t register on the “padron” cut themselves off from a range of possible services from the Spanish municipal authorities. Our Consulates are here to help, but so are the local town halls.

---

First days in Spain

28 October 2009

Let me begin by saying how glad I am to have this platform for communicating directly with you all. As I settle in to my role I will be writing more about how I see Britain’s role in Spain, and giving my own take on events as they take place. But for now I shall just focus on my first few days in this exciting new job.

And what a job it is. In fact, this is one of the best jobs in the Foreign Office and Ségolène and I couldn’t wait to get here. Since we left Mexico towards the end of August we have been living in temporary accommodation in London and it’s nice to start getting settled again. We have now been here for just over a week and everyone has been very welcoming and we are sure we are going to enjoy it.

The brand new Embassy in the Torre Espacio is fantastic. The view from my office on the 40th floor is superb but, more importantly, the well-designed high-tech premises provide a clear image of Britain today: modern, dynamic, and outward looking. Whilst we are proud of our history, traditions and institutions, if Britain is to be taken seriously in today’s globalised world, we need to show that we are moving with the times.

Helping British businessmen to do business in Spain, and attracting Spanish investment to the UK, will be one of my key responsibilities here. Britain already exports over 17 billion euros worth of goods and services to Spain and, with over 700 UK companies present here, we are one of the largest investors. I was therefore glad that my first engagement outside the office was to attend an exhibition of British suppliers of security equipment. This is a sector in which we are a world leader and the Spanish visitors to the event were clearly impressed by the variety and quality of the equipment on show.

Today I made my first speech, at the opening of a British/Spanish seminar on better regulation. Regulation is, of course, necessary to protect citizens, consumers and the environment, and to allow for fair competition between businesses. However, excessive bureaucracy and inappropriate or ill-designed regulation can be a major burden for businesses and consumers alike. In the UK we have been working since the 1980’s to identify ways of reducing this burden and I’m convinced that this is one of the reasons why Britain now attracts more overseas investment than any other European country. I believe that we have a lot to share with Spain here.