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‘If there’s one thing Brits want, it’s to go on holiday’ ... sunbathing in Ibiza.
‘If there’s one thing Brits want, it’s to go on holiday’ ... sunbathing in Ibiza. Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy
‘If there’s one thing Brits want, it’s to go on holiday’ ... sunbathing in Ibiza. Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

Bof! A post-Brexit guide to holidaying in the EU

This article is more than 7 years old

Millions of Brits will soon be heading for the sunspots of Europe as usual – but after the vote to leave, hasn’t everything changed? Plus: how to say ‘I am Scottish’ in Greek and a guide to squeezing the most out of your sterling

If there’s one way in which Brits connect with Europe, it’s when we pack our bags and go on holiday. As we fret about what the future (and indeed, the rest of today) holds for all of us in a post-Brexit world, in practice Europe continues to mean the annual summer break. The Costas and the Algarve, the French countryside and the Greek islands, the smell of suntan lotion, a cold beer, a warm sea, a pungent cheese, and the insatiable British desire for a week of uninterrupted sunshine.

Except the climate is a lot less predictable now. The millions of British holidaymakers heading to Europe as usual this summer face a continent in which their passport remains valid, but everything has changed. What can they expect? Espressos costing an arm and a leg now the pound has dropped to a 30-year low? Paranoid expats in Spain, sympathy in Greece, pity in Germany, antipathy in France, and the kind of blamey atmosphere that doesn’t quite scream relaxing holiday in the sun? Or perhaps going and talking to Europeans, contributing to local economies and taking a break from our own news is the best remedy for the Brexit limbo casting a shadow over this island.

“If I wanted to make a late booking in Europe I wouldn’t think twice about it,” says Bob Atkinson, a travel expert at TravelSupermarket.com who tells me it has been “quite an unusual year” for the industry; not only because of Brexit but as a result of terrorist attacks in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey that have taken these otherwise popular holiday destinations off the tourist map. “We have nothing telling us that since Brexit there has been a dip in traffic. It’s business as usual, Spain is still the number one destination for Brits this summer, and I don’t think our love affair with holidaying in Europe will change. If there’s one thing Brits want, it’s to go on holiday.”

Market in Saint-Remy-de-Provence ... the slump in the pound will make holidays in the EU 10-15% more expensive this summer.
Market in Saint-Remy-de-Provence ... the slump in the pound will make holidays in the EU 10-15% more expensive this summer.

The question is whether we can afford it. One month before the referendum, David Cameron warned that a typical family holiday in Europe would rise by £230 if the UK voted to leave. Though this figure was dismissed, Atkinson estimates that based on the latest slump in the pound it will be 10-15% more expensive to holiday in the EU than it was last summer. “Nothing has changed at this stage apart from the value of the pound,” he says. “Anyone who has already booked doesn’t need to worry but if you haven’t paid for a holiday in full you may pay a little more for things like accommodation this summer. The best value is in all-inclusives because the prices were fixed long before Brexit.”

Meanwhile, as a result of the 10% drop in the value of the pound, UK holiday hotspots such as Cornwall and the Lake District are expecting a bumper summer as 2.5 million Brits decide to holiday at home and overseas tourists flock here, lured by the exchange rate. The staycation, in other words, is back. As for next summer and beyond, we could see the freedom (and low costs) for British airlines such as easyJet to fly between EU countries curtailed, although Norway is being held up as an example of a non-member country flying plenty of routes in the EU. Other knock-on effects might include a change in airline passenger rights, more expensive fuel and motorway toll prices, and limits on duty free. The most tangible change will be cost. “If the value of the pound remains suppressed and the price of oil goes up we could see holidays rising in cost next summer,” Atkinson predicts. “The next big acid test is the January booking market. It’s all very unpredictable at the moment.”

According to a poll published just before the referendum, an overwhelming majority of Europeans believed Brexit would harm the EU. In a series of surveys taken since the result, support for the EU has risen. As for how this unhappy or, at best, perplexed majority will respond when the hordes of British tourists descend as usual on Europe’s resorts, beaches and cities, still monoglots, still partial to drinking too much and burning too easily, but no longer EU members for the foreseeable future. Atkins remains sanguine. “If you’re involved in the travel industry you don’t care what nationality people are as long as they come and spend. Greece and Spain, like us, have had really rough years so they will welcome us as they ever did. The majority of Europeans want to encourage Brits to keep coming on holiday even though we’re leaving the EU.”

‘Do you accept dental fillings as currency?’ – and other essential phrases from our post-Brexit EU holiday phrasebook

Tapas bar in Barcelona … but you’ll need to talk about more than food and drink this summer ... Photograph: Alamy

Forget “una cerveza por favor” – here are the phrases you’ll now need to get through your next holiday on the continent. By Stuart Heritage

French

Would I get better treatment if I told you I was a football hooligan or a Brexiter?
Est-ce que je serais mieux traité si j’étais un hooligan ou un Brexiter?

I’m not sure what my healthcare situation is here any more, so try not to poison me.
Je ne suis pas sûr que ma couverture médicale me prenne toujours en charge, donc essayez de ne pas m’empoisonner.

Do you accept dental fillings as currency?
Est-ce que je peux vous payer en dents en or?

Can we keep Arsène Wenger?
Est-ce que l’on peut garder Arsène Wenger?

Think how cheaply you’ll be able to buy our boring cheese and subpar wine now!
Pensez à la bonne affaire que vous ferez désormais en achetant nos fromages sans goût et notre piquette!

Spanish

Here are my life savings in sterling. Is it enough to afford this novelty straw donkey?
Toma, todos mis ahorros en libras. ¿Me alcanza para comprarle al burro de paja ese?

Please assure me that Del Boy’s Sausage and Lager Fun Pub has not been adversely affected by the UK’s current political climate.
Dime por favor que la situación política del Reino Unido no ha impactado a Del Boy’s Sausage And Lager Fun Pub.

Don’t blame me, blame my dad.
Oye, que la culpa no es mía, ojo. Es de mi padre.

Please, just promise me all the retired ex-pat East End gangsters will be OK.
Prométeme por lo menos que estarán bien los gangsters jubilados del East End.

Can we arm-wrestle for control of Gibraltar?
¿Y si echamos un pulso? El ganador se queda con Gibraltar.


‘Can I live here please?’ ... Photograph: Mia Caruana/Alamy

Italian

I wish to exchange all your sexist politicians for all our racist ones.
Vorrei scambiare tutti i vostri politici sessisti per i nostri politici razzisti

Can I live here please?
Posso vivere qui da voi, per favore?

Can I still buy a giant Toblerone at the airport?
E sempre possibile comprare un Toblerone gigante all’aeroporto?

Do you have a denomination low enough to split a tenner?
Avete banconote di un valore abbastanza basso per cambiare dieci sterline?

Have fun with your constitutional referendum in October. You’ll be fine.
Godetevi il vostro referendum costituzionale di Ottobre. Vi troverete bene.

German

I read on a bus that you have £350m of mine. Can I have it back?
Ich habe auf einem Bus gelesen, dass sie mir £350m schulden. Könnte ich die bitte wiederhaben?

Excuse me, could you teach me how to unify a country?
Entschuldigung, können sie mir verraten wie man ein entzweites Land vereint?

Yes, I agree, Nigel Farage is a berk.
Ja, Nigel Farage ist ein Trottel, da haben sie recht.

You’re sexy. Let’s get married for the passports.
Du bist sexy. Lass uns heiraten damit ich einen deutschen Pass bekommen kann.

What’s the German word for “schadenfreude”?
Wie sagt man “schadenfreude” auf Deutsch?

Greek

Please apologise for inventing democracy.
Σας παρακαλώ να απολογηθείτε που δημιουργήσατε την έννοια της δημοκρατίας.
(Sas parakalo na apologitheite pou dimiourgisate teen enya tees dimokratias.)

Please explain how you got your government to overturn that referendum.
Εξηγήστε παρακαλώ πως η κυβέρνηση σας ανέτρεψε το δημοψήφισμα.
(Exigiste parakalo pos ee kivernisi sas anetrepse to dimopsifisma.)

You must come to England next time. Three euros are currently worth a million of our pounds.
Πρέπει να έρθετε στην Αγγλία την επόμενη φορά. Τρία ευρώ αυτή τη στιγμή αξίζουν εκατομμύρια λίρες.
(Prepee na erthete steen Aglia teen epomeni fora. Tria evro aftee teen stigmee axizoun ekatomeeria lires.)

Since you’re so reluctant to exchange British money, would you like to purchase this sterling origami swan instead?
Από τη στιγμή που είστε τόσο διστακτικός στο να κάνετε συνάλλαγμα σε Βρετανικά χρήματα, μήπως θα θέλατε να αγοράσετε αυτό τον ασημένιο κύκνο origami;
(Apo tee stigmee pou eesteh toso distaktikos sto na kanete sinallagma se Vretanika chrimata, mipos tha thelate na agorasete afto ton aseemenio kikno origami.)

Hello, I am Scottish.
Γειά σας, είμαι Σκωτζέζος.
(Ya ssus, eemeh Skotzezos.)
Translations by Jessica Reed/Kate Carter, Sid Lowe, Clare Longrigg/Paolo Bandini, Philip Oltermann and Christina Niania/Helen Nianias

Sterling work – how to get the most out of a depressed pound this summer

Eating out in Mykonos ... there might be fewer restaurant trips this summer.
Eating out in Mykonos ... there might be fewer restaurant trips. Photograph: Sergio Pitamitz/Getty Images

Will it be fewer ice- creams for the kids? Forsaking restaurant meals in favour of supermarket salads and takeaway pizza? Or maybe you’ll be surreptitiously grabbing extra rolls and croissants from the hotel’s breakfast buffet in order to make a sneaky free picnic.

Yesterday, £1 bought €1.17. That’s down from €1.30 the day before the referendum and €1.42 last August. So someone changing £1,000 into -euros yesterday lunchtime would have -received, at best, €1,172, compared with €1,298 on 22 June and €1,407 in mid-August 2015. That’s down 10% and 17% respectively.

If you still haven’t bought your holiday money, and you’re not heading off for a couple of weeks or more, you have a choice. You can either carry on watching the exchange rates like a hawk and cross your fingers that things will get better, or you can protect yourself against further falls by buying your banknotes now or loading up a prepaid currency card offered by a company such as FairFX in order to lock into -current rates. (Or you can do a bit of both).

Shop around when buying currency. The online currency tool at travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com compares rates at bureaux and ranks them. ICE (International Currency Exchange) and Thomas Exchange Global tend to score well.

Meanwhile, picking the wrong credit or debit card to use when you are on holiday abroad can quite easily set you back £50-plus in fees and hidden commission. MoneySavingExpert.com’s Martin Lewis has dubbed Lloyds, Santander, Halifax and TSB debit cards “the cards from hell” for holidaymakers, because they charge a £1-£1.50 purchase fee when you use the card in a shop or restaurant overseas – typically on top of what they take off you for currency conversion. By contrast, Halifax’s Clarity credit card has no usage fees (ie commission charges, ATM fees etc) however or wherever you use it.

If you are looking to book something last-minute, there are arguably some destinations where you can still get relatively good value for money this summer. For example, while someone heading to Sweden will receive 8% less krona for their sterling than they would have got the day before the referendum, it’s still 10% more than they would have received three years ago (based on yesterday’s exchange rates). Rupert Jones

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