BRITISH prime minister David Cameron has warned that family holidays to Spain would dramatically increase in price if the UK pulled out of the European Union.
Flights would be more expensive due to no longer being within the common market, a factor that would lead to trade barriers going up again since, at present, movement of goods, services and people is treated as though it were within the same country when crossing the 28 member States.
And with the pound sterling having already fallen from its recent €1.41 to around €1.26, this could automatically add on around 225 pounds, or €290 to the cost of the average family holiday in Spain.
Spain continues to be the number one destination for Brits seeking summer breaks – especially as the financial crisis has made their 'old favourite' less costly, and the instability in traditionally cheaper sunshine hotspots like Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt leading to an exodus from these countries.
Conservative leader Cameron, giving a press conference at the EasyJet base in Luton airport, said the pound could fall by as much as a further 12% against the euro in the event of a 'Brexit'.
Its devaluation would also make the US dollar more expensive, meaning that even though a Brexit would not affect holidays in the United States per se, with the currency being stronger against the sterling, a family fortnight there would cost up to 620 pounds (about €800) more.
And a 10-night stay in Portugal would cost 230 pounds (€296) extra, whilst an eight-day family trip to France would go up in price by around 210 pounds (€270).
Airlines operating between the UK and the EU would face 'all types of bureaucracy and restrictions' that they are currently free from as part of the common market, Cameron says.
And the abolition of roaming costs for mobile phone use would not benefit the UK after a 'Brexit'.
“One of the other things that's happening in Europe is that we're abolishing romaning costs within the EU,” Cameron explained.
“This is one of the most annoying aspects of going on holiday. You use your mobile phone and you get a gigantic bill. Getting rid of roaming could mean that in a 10-minute call to the United Kingdom, you're saving nearly four pounds [€5.16],” he stressed.
The cost of holidays, of food and of mobile phone use abroad are 'very solid arguments' for remaining in the EU, Cameron concluded.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com