itv news last night ref Brexit - Page 2

Cheers Dario , nice to know I wasn’t really a criminal . It certainly will ruffle a few feathers if the guardia and local police start checking peoples papers and eligibility to live in Spain . How hard is it getting citizenship, I wish you well with that . Are you chaps still going hammer and tongue on brexit . I think when I bought a uk car that was Spanish plates I had to get paperwork sorted by an abogado in arbelaos and was quite expensive to transfer .

Matriculation for a RH drive car can be expensive, yes.  Citizenship is no easy task - it requires 10 years of legal residency and passing a Spanish test before anything else.  I know for a fact that GC and Policia Local are and will be checking eligibility - certainly post 30/3

It looks very much like residency in Spain now is all about money,not what you can offer,

I have no sympathy for people that were living in Spain before Brexit that did not regularise themselves before January

They certainly had plenty of notice, and plenty of opportunity - there’s no excuse

Residency and citizenship are totally different then . What are the benefits of one over the other ? Does that mean anyone applying for Spanish citizenship has to relinquish their original nationality . One other question . Some of the minor EU countries is it correct that to get  residency or citizenship is far easier than shall we say the four or five main players . Ie amount of money required?

I can’t comment on the other countries - I really don’t know; but differences between Residency and Citizenship - Permanent Residency grants you the right to reside and work in Spain, and vote in local municipal elections.  You are still restricted to the 90 days in 180 in other Schengen countries though; your residency is theoretically all you need to carry in other countries, but your UK passport will restrict your movement. (I specify permanent residency, because for those now settling in Spain on an NLV, remunerated employment is forbidden until permanent residency attained - 5 years)

As a Spanish Citizen, you are obliged to renounce your British Passport ... but that is never checked up on.  A citizen has all the rights - and obligations - of a natural born Spaniard; i.e. can move freely throughout EU, live, work, settle in any EU country etc etc and can vote in local, national and EU elections.  If you are of age it also renders you liable for military service should the country deem it necessary in time of crisis.  There is no conscription here, but it’s pretty much the same as any country where you are citizen as opposed to resident, you have obligations as well as rights.

As a permanent resident, you can be out of Spain for up to 5 years without losing residency, but there is that time limit.  A citizen will of course have no limits placed on how long they can be out of the country, save those placed upon them by whichever other country they visit.  If that’s another Schengen country, then in reality a citizen can spend 20 years away from Spain and still return.  A resident can manage 5, and that’s with the associated issues of being a TCN now having to apply for residency in another country - I don’t know if that would invalidate Spanish residency or not - I suspect it would, because of the aforementioned 5 year rule - you’d have to be resident in the other country for 5 years to become a permanent resident, at which point Spanish residency lapses.

It’s quite possible the route to citizenship is easier in other countries and can indeed depend on how much money you are able to “invest in your future”, but I really don’t know - although I can say that Portugal has a lower income threshold for residency than does Spain

So you've moved on from villages to the internet.

Thy humour is exceedingly brave oh mighty keyboard warrior.

• I will never understand the people who have lived here full time and not got thair documents in order. The 90day rule has been in force for years, & for those that left it late Sorry I have no sympathy for you whatsoever. Why did you not do it years ago? if you've lived in Spain for a number of years d

Very very true ,very weak in the UK I think that's why a lot of people leave