Lynn R

The same is true of a sizeable number of British immigrants in Spain. They have no interest or intention of learning the language (indeed the person in this thread who is most concerned about the issue is clearly terrified by the prospect of having to take a theory exam and driving test in Spanish - why, he lives here?), like to shop for familiar British foods at places like Iceland, eat and drink in British owned and run establishments,watch British TV and have British tradesmen (who tend to charge much higher prices) to do jobs on their homes. They like to criticise "the Spanish" for all kinds of things. Nearly 26% of Barcelona's population was born outside Spain - he had better start looking around for a new place to live if that number increases,not far to go before it reaches the same level as Bradford, shock horror.

Pulaski

Although that situation may only be transitory, and could significantly reverse over the next 20 years. Indeed the data suggests that the trend may have already been reversing for the past 8 years, with a pre-Brexit blip in 2018-2020. It will be interesting to look back in 5-10 years and see how things have changed.

spouse of scouse

What an excellent post Lynn

bobd22

+1

Lynn R

No matter how many of them there are, the majority of British immigrants anywhere in the world are not renowned for adapting their way of life to the local culture or learning the language. As a nation we are famously monoglot and yet some love to criticise immigrants to the UK for their failure to speak English or integrate. I use public transport all the time here in Spain and around me I hear Moroccan, African and Eastern European immigrants speaking good Spanish to their children. What do the British speak - English. Good thing we don't have the likes of Nigel Farage here who finds it so intolerable when he hears people speaking in foreign languages on trains, or the knuckle draggers who physically attack people on buses or trams for the same thing. If these people from other countries - who may not have had the same level of educational opportunities as the British have - can learn Spanish so well, why can't the British make the effort?

scrubbedexpat142

Seriously? The "Balkanisers" are the most Integrated of the immigrant communities in the UK, particularly with their command of English. Suggest you follow your own advice from a while back, nothing worse than those in the USA comnenting, ignorantly, on affairs in Europe.

Pulaski

There's a lot more to "integration" than speaking the local lingo.

inbarcelona

I live in a village up in the hills from Barcelona...about 25km away. I´m the only English person here and I have integrated with the locals
It´s not that I´m terrified of taking a driving test in Spanish....how many of us would even pass an English driving test after driving for 40 years....not many I suspect.
I have never shopped at Iceland...I have a bit more class than that. i don´t have British TV and there are no British owned establishments to frequent.

So...know it all Lynn R....you haven´t a clue what you´re talking about.

Lynn R

But without it, they cannot hope to "integrate". How can you integrate with a commuity you can't communicate with?

scrubbedexpat142

So now your going to claim that the other immigrant communities in the UK have integrated more than the so called "Balkanisers". Unbelievable.

inbarcelona

Maybe Lynn R should move to Leicester, Luton or Slough...See how she likes it then...or better still, move to Whitechapel.

Thairetired2016

By EU or by Britain alone?
Britain never applied for EU funds for research, infrastructure etc.?

https://www.myeu.uk/

Lynn R

Actually, I moved here from East Lancashire, from a town close to Burnley and Rochdale although the communities are so segregated there that where I lived was 99% white British. A Pakistani man moved into a rented house which backed on to mine with his young son and we used to chat over the fence. Nice quiet people who never caused a nuisance to anyone. One day he told me he was moving and I asked why. He had had death threats (anonymous, of course) posted through his letterbox and was concerned for his son's safety, They may not have been idle threats as there had been previous incidents of Asian-owned businesses being petrol bombed. I asked if he had informed the police and he said he just didn't want any trouble. When we told our neighbours opposite we were putting our house up for sale and moving to Spain, they said "we hope you don't sell it to any Pakis". I was shocked as I always thought they were decent people. It's because of the attitude of people like them and the death threat writers that I wanted to move away, not because of the non-British born population.

In the municipality I live in here, there are more than twice as many Moroccan immigrants as British ones, and more Romanian ones than British. That does not bother me one bit.

Pulaski

Sorry, you have lost me entirely. I thought I knew what you meant by "Balkanizers", but now I am certain that I don't. I also don't know what you mean by "other immigrant communities"?

Generally I would suggest that any group that exists as an "immigrant community" has not integrated. ..... I go weeks, if not months, between speaking to any one in the US who is British, and there is only one who a socilaize with occasionally. I am not a member of any "physical" British expat club or association, nor even so much as an informal group. I rarely even buy imported groceries. I consider myself to be integrated.

inbarcelona

Ah.....Rochdale ....Child abuse capital of the UK.....Where the Police are so frightened of doing anything about it in case they get called Racists.

A monumental cover-up by local politicians and social workers of a left-wing persuasion. We can´t be seen to upset the sensitivities of the locals can we. That´s Racist....even though we are talking about child molesters.
And still it goes on today...not only in Rochdale but in many other parts of the country too.