Immigrants not expats - crossing the border

There has been plenty in the news over the last few years on people with homes in Europe, often living there in retirement realising the consequences of Brexit (which many of them voted for) for free movement and the length of time they can stay there. 

Many leading supporters of Brexit it turns out have passports for other countries which means they won't be liable to the same restrictions on free movement as those of us with British passports. 

Funny that....

Some of them live outside of the UK and have divorced themself from any association with the harm they have caused.

All of this was clear from the moment that a slim majority of people voted for something they were assured would have no negative repercussions. 

Any geographer could point out the flaws, and the impossibility of having your cake and eating it. The analogy of gym membership has been used repeatedly. It has since been supplemented by other terrible political decisions and untruths. Every school holiday is now marked with issues at passport control as every document has to be seen and stamped. There may be further problems when fingerprinting is introduced.

We have people realising that being outside the EU means you can't import foodstuffs in the same way even if that is a cheese and ham sandwich, and also fish - which have to be moved as quickly as possible if they are to be fresh - will not be fresh if trade isn't frictionless. 

We have people who signed off on deals without reading the small print and who are now complaining about those deals, and this threatens to reopen tensions with Northern Ireland as we reach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. 

One word in this area which has always intrigued me is the use of the term expat.

The many hundreds of thousands of people living in Spain and elsewhere are apparently expats, but people moving to the UK to live are immigrants. 

How much do some of these people engage with the local community and learn the language?

For me if you live in a country other than where you were born, you are an immigrant.

This BBC piece explores the semantics of difference between an expatriate and an immigrant.

Thoughts welcome...