Resilient region will continue to adapt and innovate

I write this column in the early morning from Andaluc�a, Spain, sitting on a terrace looking out over the Mediterranean, writes Steve Allen. There is an orange glow in the sky and soon the sun will peek through the palm trees and it will be too hot to sit where I am now.

We 've been here over a week now and it 's an easy lifestyle to get used to, lazy mornings maybe a walk along the boardwalk around lunchtime, a siesta in the afternoon and either dinner out or BBQ on the terrace where I 'm sat now.

As in the UK, many of the bars and restaurants have suffered due to the lack of tourists coming to the coast over the last 18 months. Many have been forced to close, rents being too high to maintain a presence without the usual footfall of tourists.

We 've been coming here for 15 years and our favourite little restaurant up the hill is closed. Eating instead in the restaurant next door, we found Alex, the owner of our favourite restaurant working as a waiter. Their family own both restaurants but there was not enough trade to keep both going.

It 's been tough without tourists, he said. He had to let his waiting staff go and now he 's finding it difficult to recruit because they 've all moved on and it 's difficult to promise continuous employment as the season ends and we move into the winter.

The Spanish government did provide support. However, that money has to be paid back and it won 't be easy. Alex will be open next year as he hopes things will start getting back to normal.

The good news is that golfers are starting to return as the winter months provide perfect playing conditions. It 's too hot to play during the day in the peak summer months and apartment owners are flying in to check out properties that they haven 't seen for almost two years.

The season this year is therefore likely to be extended and he 's encouraged by the news that the UK government is introducing a new simplified system for international travel from October 4. This means that it will be easier for Brits to travel to countries like Spain, currently on the amber list.

We flew out from Birmingham airport and were impressed with how efficient and safe everything felt. In order to travel to Spain, it 's necessary to complete an online questionnaire in which you have to provide details of your vaccinations and passport details.

Once completed, you are provided with a QR Code, which is scanned on arrival at immigration. It was simple and straight forward. This is the first time we 'd been to Spain since Brexit and although it seemed strange not going through the EU channel on arrival, there were no long queues and it 's clear that the country is keen to see international travellers back.

Being away from home sometimes gives a different perspective on life in the UK. Turn on the TV here and especially the French channels have reporters at petrol stations at supermarkets in the UK showing depleted shelves and interviewing farmers, one from our own village in Staffordshire, complaining that there are no drivers to collect their milk.

My French is not great but the word 'Brexit ' kept coming up and flashing at the bottom of the screen. The shelves are stacked full of fresh produce here and there are no queues for petrol.

I hope that the government gets a grip of the situation. I will always be a “remainer ” but I will never be a “remoaner ”. I believe in global Britain, I also believe that our best years are ahead of us, especially in the West Midlands.

There is no doubt that things are difficult now but we are a resilient region and we will learn to adapt and innovate as we have before. I 'm certain that it will take many years to heal the scars of Brexit with our European neighbours but it must be our priority to do so for the benefit of them and us.

Steve Allen is president of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and head of the Birmingham office of Mills & Reeve

This column first appeared in this week 's Birmingham Post