The truth is that it hurts us just like it would any of the most pro-European voters in the UK, but the result of the June 23rd referendum is clear: A majority of the UK's voters want their country to leave the European Union. This is bad for quite a few reasons.
The United Kingdom is embarking on a process that can only end up harming it: Politically and economically, leaving the European Union will weaken the UK both within and outside of its borders. Chances are that the UK will cease to exist as we currently know it, since it would only be logical for Scotland to once again head down the road towards independence.
The majority of what will be achieved will mainly benefit those who led the campaign to exit, i.e. the xenophobic and racist extreme right and the most backward and irresponsible segment of the Conservative party. If some exit voters have come to believe that they will live in a freer and more democratic country, it won't take long for them to be disenchanted.
Exaggeration can be used to speculate and write alarmist articles, but not to solve problems.
The result of the referendum also poses a major problem for the European Union, which will now be forced to activate the already famous Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon.
We'll see how everything ends up in a couple of months or years, but I think we shouldn't exaggerate at present and that, above all, we shouldn't blame the victim.
We shouldn't exaggerate our fears just yet because neither the world nor Europe as a whole will crumble to pieces due to the outcome of the British referendum. For example, early on Friday, as I saw the IBEX35 fall more than 11 percent and the London Stock Exchange plummet by half, I wondered if I had made a mistake and the vote had actually taken place in Spain. Exaggeration can be used to speculate and write alarmist articles, but not to solve problems.
The EU has the means to confront this crisis. It will do so by strengthening itself politically, as it always does.
It would have been worse if London had been a member of the euro, but that is not the case. As of today, the UK is still a member of the European Union and, certainly, at the end of the divorce process, if it ever happens, it will still belong to many of the EU's areas (single market, for example, but without participating in the rules that govern it: Has anyone thought about the business possibilities of this?), even though it's no longer formally a member of the European Union.
The responsibility lies with those who, with their populist and demagogic arguments, attacked immigration or who wanted to imprint their political system on Europe's ass.
Why not think that there might even be a new referendum concerning permanence in view of the catastrophe just unleashed, and following a new agreement between Brussels and London? Some people think that inflexibility is most convenient right now, but perhaps we should be more pragmatic than anything else.
We should also avoid blaming the EU. I've read some opinions pointing the finger at Brussels, at European bureaucracy, at the Union's incomprehensibility over the majority in favor of leaving in the British referendum. No, folks, no: The responsibility lies with those who, with their populist and demagogic arguments, attacked immigration or who wanted to imprint their political system on Europe's ass.
Make no mistake: The battle for Europe will be waged against the Nigel Farages, the Boris Johnsons, the Le Pens, the Geert Wilders and all the other populists, demagogues, xenophobes and racists who want the EU to disappear and then some. This is something they share with Donald Trump, to name one example. In this battle, the first thing we must do is open the eyes of those who have been clouded by this kind of rhetoric. And it will not be easy.
We should remain calm, for the EU has the means to confront this crisis. It will do so by strengthening itself politically, as it always does. And it will succeed, despite everything. We have to do this, at the very least to honor Jo Cox, who was foully murdered just over a week ago.
This post first appeared on HuffPost Spain. It has been translated into English and edited for clarity.