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DarioMartin wrote on Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:08am:
I’m sorry, but that narrative is so full of inaccuracies ...
1. There was no “drafting error in the withdrawal agreement”. UK turned down flat Freedom of Movement; it actively sought to END Freedom of Movement - that wasn’t a “drafting error”, it was an objective of Brexit!
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2. People haven’t been “forced to live” in Europe. There is a misconception that Residencia was really just a way to have a long holiday in Spain. It’s not. Residencia means RESIDENCE. You are RESIDENT of Spain, you reside here, it is your country of primary residence. It is where you live.
3. Those who have to leave because their Residencia has lapsed are those who treated Residencia as a long-term holiday visa, and within the first 5 years spent more that 183 days in any year outside of Spain. Rules of continuous residency mean that you are obliged to spend 183 days a year in Spain. Pre 1/1/21 this was largely overlooked by Spanish authorities. Now it isn’t and anyone who is found to have significantly breached rules of continuous residency will lose their Residencia.
4. The above doesn’t affect anyone who’s been here longer than 5 years, as when you become permanent resident you can spend up to 5 years outside Spain without losing Residencia. There will be very very very few permanent residents who’s residency has lapsed because of this. Much more likely they are long-termers who never had residency in the first place because they didn’t want to pay Spanish tax on worldwide income
5. This is not something that can be included as a clause in the withdrawal agreement or sorted out with a treaty with Spain. It would require UK to accept Freedom of Movement, and again, one of the Brexit objectives was cessation of FoM.
It’s not a “drafting error” or some other speed bump. It is a direct consequence of Brexit. UK voted to leave the EU and become a Third Country Nation, and to accept the strictures and limitations upon travel faced by Third Country Nations. This is what you voted for Britain, and I’ve been assured the vast majority of the 17.3 million knew exactly what they were voting for.
Why then now is there such a push to try and overturn one of the tenets of Brexit? Freedom of Movement? because FoM is what is required to get you longer than 90 days.
Precise and soundly written , good one
