On the morning of Wednesday 15th November 2017, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce held a morning talk titled Brexit: Immigration and Employment in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain to the United Kingdom, held at their premises in Knightsbridge, London.
There were three speakers leading the session: Juan Duarte, Counsellor at the Embassy of Spain, José Riera, General Consul at the Spanish Consulate in London and Reyes Zataraín del Valle; Employment and Social Security Advisor. Once all attendees had taken their seats, Eduardo Barrachina, Associate at White & Case LLP (member of the Chamber) opened the talk and welcomed everyone to the Embassy.
Mr Duarte then started proceedings by explaining the format of the talk. He went on to briefly describe the timeline of Brexit events and developments thus far, particularly in terms of key dates and negotiations. He spoke about the issues of the single market, the current situation with social security and documentation of EU citizens residing in the UK; highlighting that the sooner negotiations can get underway the better the outcome will be for everyone.
José Riera spoke next, beginning by emphasising the importance of Spanish citizens who reside in the UK enrolling in the Spanish Consulate and the many reasons for this. He spoke of the wider work of the Consulate and the issues and technicalities surrounding the application process for British citizenship, adding that the amount of people applying for this is continually increasing.
Reyes Zataraín del Valle then opened up her talk by explaining how there is currently a good situation in terms of Social Security and that Spain has a stable and well developed system for this. She went on to speak in greater detail about the matter, covering additional areas such as pensions, benefits, indefinite leave to remain and settled status in the UK.
After the three speakers then spoke again, Mr Duarte invited guests to ask any questions they might have; although they had also been previously encouraged to do so throughout the talk. There were a great deal of questions asked which were directed to and answered by the three members of the panel. After the final question was answered, attendees were encouraged to send any further queries they might have to the embassy by email (to either brexitventanillaresidentes@maec.es or emb.londres.brexit@maec.es).
This was a popular talk with a fantastic turnout and positive feedback received, with attendees having found the content both insightful and useful. We would like to thank the Embassy of Spain for collaborating with us on this event and for holding it at their premises, as well as all of those who took part.
If you would like to know more about this kind of events and others organised by the Chamber, do take a look at the Upcoming Events section of our website or subscribe to our electronic newsletter for biweekly updates.