I know the dangers of forming political opinions with a barman over a cold beer. I was in France's Perigord, normally a tourist hotspot. The mill-leat outside was busy with gushing water in stark contrast to bar trade. The barman told me that the season was catastrophic after such a wet early summer, then the French elections, European football and the Olympic games all being distractions. "The real problem is" he added disconsolately "the roads heading south are packed with tourists all looking for the sun in Spain. There is nothing to stop them".
This is, of course, literally true as border controls have been removed by the 'Schengen Treaty' and there is nothing that can be done to stem the invasion. How ironic it is that an agreement born out of a wish to allow workers to relocate where they wish was being undone by a thirst to 'play' where they want. North-west Europeans, including the British, have come to regard a three-week sunshine break as a birthright. The cheapness and reliability of modern cars means that millions can move at short notice and high-speed.
Countries that at one time ran TV advertisements to attract tourists have now found themselves overrun with modern visitors largely self-sufficient and adding little to the economy of hosts. Camper-vans, or -mobile homes' as their owners prefer to call them, are a new curse. They often transport a totally self-sufficient family, laden with victuals bought in their home-towns and with no expectation of buying all but a few fresh essentials at their destination. They frequently 'wild-camp' and are often careless in the disposal of their sewage and garbage. The vehicles are large and block roads and seafront car parks. It is little surprise that residents along much of the Spanish coast have been protesting against, even attacking these new invaders.
For Spanish local authorities the absence of a method of taxing them is irksome. While hotels levy a modest tourist tax – usually less than two euros a night – wild campers and visitors rootless and in transit get away free. Sometimes Spanish authorities find that local property owners, usually British, Dutch and German, are part of a conspiracy to defraud them. New villa developments usually have two outside doors and the governor of Mallorca has complained that so many of them seem to have an implausibly lengthy and constant stream of 'family' coming to stay. The Catholic Church, historically adept at raising extra income have been using empty monasteries and convents on the island as un-taxed holiday accommodation.
These woes have been broadly repeated in Croatia and Greece where government officials asked people not to travel. With Schengen the free-movement rhetoric promotes the Erasmus scheme, which is, even now, in Britain, is hailed as a 'right' for under 30 year olds. The hysterical outcry against the proposal to charge seven Euros for Britons and those outside Schengen to obtain an entry visa – the cost of a fancy drink or half a pizza, is berated as an attack on liberty yet most countries charge for visas – Thailand, India, the USA for example.
The justification for the UK Census every 10 years, and similar surveys across Europe is so that 'government' can plan social and infrastructure needs. Any statistics and plans-made are blown to pieces by unplanned, uncontrolled mass migration. Since Covid it seems that the whole world, almost literally, has seized the chances of foreign travel with a desperation close to addiction. This included Russians who make up officially the largest visitor group in Sri Lanka and anecdotally in Vietnam where my son saw that most restaurant menus have Russian translations – so much for the effectiveness of western sanctions.
It seems that the European Union, suffused with ideological dogma, may soon to be forced to re-examine Schengen because of the practicalities of managing large seasonal migrations as well as the chronic asylum issue, which is challenging their liberal-socialism in elections across Europe. Denmark wisely resisted signing the 'full' Schengen agreement and in 1988 opted for a version allowing it to close borders Almost unreported in the British press, Denmark has taken this option several times in recent years including this summer. Given that Germany had a taste of its own medicine when this year's football championship attracted un-ticketed hordes into their cities, it may soon be that the Brussels demagogues begin to see their Schengen dream challenged.
