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Spanish Government looking into more than 90/180.for Brits
At last! possible hope for Brits with holiday homes in Spain. Quote from Think Spain……
VALENCIA regional government president Ximo Puig has asked tourism minister Reyes Maroto to create a system allowing British nationals to stay in Spain longer than 90 days in every 180.
Where are all the Brits? The Comunidad Valenciana's regional president, Ximo Puig, wants a system in place allowing UK nationals to spend more than the limit of 90 days per 180 in Spain if they wish, pointing out that British tourism is ‘a priority’ for the regionThe issue came up once again at the World Travel Market (WTM), currently under way in London until tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, where Spain always has a pavilion with a number of individual towns holding stands within it.
Although the '90-day rule' is standard for the passport-free Schengen zone – meaning that, if a resident and citizen from a country outside it spends 90 days in Spain, he or she cannot, for example, then spend a week's holiday in France until the 180 days are up – non-Schengen European Union countries have always enjoyed some flexibility.
Spending 183 days in a calendar year in Spain automatically makes a person tax-resident in Spain, but British nationals who do not wish to commit themselves entirely to Spanish life in this way have often spent four or five months of the year at their holiday homes in the country, or popped back and forth throughout the year, and still been able to take breaks in other Schengen countries.
All this changed when Brexit became effective – now, a British national caught overstaying their 90 days in every 180, if they are not resident in Spain, could be ordered to leave, fined and banned from returning to the Schengen zone for a set period of time.
Brits with residence in Spain are safe from this, and can still spend several months of the year in the UK if they wish.
Otherwise, non-residents from the UK need a visa – either the so-called 'golden visa' granted to non-EU citizens who spend at least half a million euros on property or investments in Spain, or a student or working visa.
Ximo Puig is concerned that the 90-day rule, which automatically kicked in post-Brexit, will not only affect Brits with existing holiday homes in the region, but also resident Brits – their family members in the UK are restricted as to how long they stay with them.
He is also worried that UK nationals who had planned to buy holiday homes in the Comunidad Valenciana, perhaps after their retirement with a view to splitting their year between the two countries, may decide not to do so if they are limited as to how much use they will get out of them.
Additionally, Puig's government is worried Brits who already have holiday homes in the region might start trying to sell them en masse, and that those who spend their time in the Comunidad Valenciana in caravan sites and holiday parks instead of in a property they own, or who bring their own camper-vans or touring caravans, may drift away.
Puig urged Sra Maroto to create some sort of system which 'eliminates the bulk of the bureaucracy' involved, so that 'Brexit is as non-Brexit as possible'.
Costa Blanca hospitality and tourism association HOSBEC launched a campaign to attract UK nationals, which it has presented at the World Travel Market (WTM) trade fair in London (photo: HOSBEC/WTM)It appears, though, that Spain's national government tourism ministry is very much on the same page as Puig: Sra Maroto assured that she has 'set up a working group' involving the British and Spanish embassies in either country 'to address mobility'.
Puig has called for her to 'speed up' the process in order to get an agreement in place as quickly as possible.
Many affected British nationals have complained the restriction is a 'one-way street', pointing out that the UK allows Spanish nationals to stay in the country for up to six months, although this is because different movement régimes apply: Spain, and the other 26 EU member States, are effectively treating the UK the way it would any other third country – bilateral agreements notwithstanding – whilst the UK, as a third country, makes decisions as an individual on how to approach relations with the rest of the world, EU nations included.
Puig's and Sra Maroto's conversation suggests, however, that the default position of the EU vis à vis specific non-member countries may be possible to amend via bilateral agreements between a third country and a given EU member State, particularly where some EU countries have a certain type of relationship with a non-member that others in the bloc do not.
As Puig recalls, around 79,000 British nationals are permanent residents in the Comunidad Valenciana, many of whom may have family still in the UK who might need, or want, to spend longer than 90 days per 180 with them, and around 30% of the region's foreign tourists in the last 'normal' year pre-Covid, 2019, were British.
This translates to around three million UK nationals visiting the Comunidad Valenciana, although only about 20% of that number, or 600,000, visited the region in 2020.
A large amount of this was due to the pandemic and heavy restrictions on international travel, which turned out to be nearly impossible for the majority of countries – and which, in fact, means last year's 600,000 was actually a very positive figure, given the situation.
Additionally, the UK was still in the so-called 'Brexit transition period' in 2020, meaning it was a member in all but name in most areas; the end of the transition, on January 31 this year, was when real changes were due to start.
Either way, Puig stresses that the British tourism market – long-stay tourists as well as those visiting for a week or two – is 'absolutely priority' for the Valencia regional government.
Whilst at the WTM, Puig has also held a meeting with the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and offered its leaders the opportunity to hold their annual tour operator summit in Benidorm.
He says that after talks with ABTA, there 'is a very real possibility' that the association will choose the Alicante-province coastal town for their yearly conference in 2023.
