90/180 day rule for UK visitors

Hi,

Does anyone know the likelyhood of Spain abolishing the 90/180 day rule. I read somewhere that it has to come from Brussells, but just wondereed if anyone knew anything further?


Thank you.

It’s an EU law surely not Spains not sure how to get rid but for property owners here it’s tough, me personally it’s horrendous I’m resident my partners not ill health becomes a nightmare

Hi,

I really feel for you - I'm so sorry to hear about the tough times you are experiencing, particularly when you have invested in Spain. Hopefully, things will get easier for you.

You are right - it does come under the EU legislation and hence why the decision has to come from Brussells. As I understand, the 90/180 day rule has been dropped for Portugal and it was anticipated that Spain would follow suit but that does not appear to have been the case to date.

Best wishes and take care.

I’m pretty sure 90/180 is still in place in Portugal as it’s a Schengen area rule, so not Country by Country is 90 days max in the whole area.

Only way around this is to apply for a visa, a friend of mine has just secured a golden visa for Spain, but I appreciate that’s not an option for most people.

Hi, thank you,

I have heard about the Golden Visa, but am I right in say that you have to have 500,000 euros to invest in Spain? All my investments are in the UK, which in turn will provide me with an income in Spain and so can prove I'm financial self sufficient.

Thank you,

Tracey

lucia wrote:Hi,

Does anyone know the likelyhood of Spain abolishing the 90/180 day rule. I read somewhere that it has to come from Brussells, but just wondereed if anyone knew anything further?

Sorry but in a word, nil and as said it's a Schengen rule not EU.

Spain could if it chose introduce a visa similar to what the French have done which allows for stays of over 90 days and up to 365 but even that is supposed to be a precursor to residency and not something renewable to be exploited as a workaround for the 90 day rule.

Unfortunately Spain will ask the EU for it to assist their tourism loss, which from 17 million visits to 3.2 million a year is a major loss, but they will soon learn that the EU are totally inflexible and will say no. I would love for Spain and Portugal to be able to lift the rules of 90/180 and in its place put work permits for those who wish to work and none working visitors permits for those who want to spend six or seven months in Spain. The boost to income and tourism would be most welcome. Spain and those who live there would not object to thousands of Brits working and paying their dues nor would they object to tens of thousands of Brits spending 6-9-12 months in their holiday home spending their money generously. Dragging their kids and grandkids over during school holidays for up to 6 weeks, again filling the bars and restaurants and using the facilities for having fun. After covid decimated businesses globally, everyone should be getting together to boost income, not putting barriers up. Let’s hope the anti British sentiment of the EU does not hurt Spain and Portugal and they see sense.

lucia wrote:Hi, thank you,

I have heard about the Golden Visa, but am I right in say that you have to have 500,000 euros to invest in Spain? All my investments are in the UK, which in turn will provide me with an income in Spain and so can prove I'm financial self sufficient.

Thank you,

Tracey

€500k in property investment (so can work if you’re buying a property in Spain), or €1m in investments.

Caution is required around going over 183 days in a year in Spain as this would pull you into Spanish tax regime which is based on global income & a wealth tax.

Worth getting specialist advice, as with everything, there’s options to achieve your goals & mitigate taxes, but needs careful planning.

Volcano wrote:Unfortunately Spain will ask the EU for it to assist their tourism loss, which from 17 million visits to 3.2 million a year is a major loss, but they will soon learn that the EU are totally inflexible and will say no. I would love for Spain and Portugal to be able to lift the rules of 90/180 and in its place put work permits for those who wish to work and none working visitors permits for those who want to spend six or seven months in Spain. The boost to income and tourism would be most welcome. Spain and those who live there would not object to thousands of Brits working and paying their dues nor would they object to tens of thousands of Brits spending 6-9-12 months in their holiday home spending their money generously. Dragging their kids and grandkids over during school holidays for up to 6 weeks, again filling the bars and restaurants and using the facilities for having fun. After covid decimated businesses globally, everyone should be getting together to boost income, not putting barriers up. Let’s hope the anti British sentiment of the EU does not hurt Spain and Portugal and they see sense.

Where on earth are you getting your information from? In the first 5 months of 2023 Spain received 21 million visits and predicts over 50 million visits between May and October 2023.
https://www.thelocal.es/20230602/foreign-tourists-in-spain-reach-record-figures-in-april-2023

https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/news/Paginas/2023/20230601_international-tourists.aspx

Spain doesn't need help from the EU with tourism but needs and has received help with the water situation.

Volcano wrote:Unfortunately Spain will ask the EU for it to assist their tourism loss, which from 17 million visits to 3.2 million a year is a major loss...

nor would they object to tens of thousands of Brits spending 6-9-12 months in their holiday home

Can you cite the source for your numbers please?

According to Statistics.com for the 2022 season UK visitors totalled 15m+ and by all accounts that number is expected to be be significantly higher for 2023 virtually reaching 2019 pre pandemic levels.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/447 ... residence/