Ron Hill wrote:Yes if you are of pension age you get a form S1 from the overseas health team in Newcastle which entitles you to health care in Spain. If you pay tax in Spain then you don’t pay for prescriptions if not then you pay about 10% of the prescription cost. If only one of you is getting uk state pension then the other is allowed to piggy back and both get it
Sorry, that's not true. If you are over retirement age in your home country you will pay 10% of the cost of prescriptions if your earnings are more than 18k a year regardless if you pay tax or not.
You get free prescriptions in the Valencia Region if you earn under 18k. Other areas are different.
Regarding taking out residency. I assume you are going to live in Spain full time? That is, more than 6 months each calendar year. If not then residency won't apply and you will remain a UK resident.
If you are going to spend more than 6 months (183 days) each calendar year then, yes, you need to become a Spanish resident and transfer health and tax liabilities to Spain.
When you move over, you have up to 3 months in which to apply for initial residency. The requirements are that you show sufficient income to support yourself which is based on the minimum living wage in Spain of around 800 euro a month. Each office processing the residency looks on it a different way. Some will ask for a whole year's amount to be in the account so around 9,000 euro but others will only ask for the 800 euro to be regularly in your account for at least 3 months. All the guesswork on the amount you need will depend on which office is processing your application so it is important to check with them what their rules are (Yes, I know it should be the same all over but welcome to Spain).
You need to show you have health care to cover you to at least the level provided by the Spanish NHS. If you are under retirement age then private health insurance which can be expensive if you have pre-existing conditions. If over retirement age in UK then transfer your health cover via the S1 form which is obtained from the Overseas healthcare service in Newcastle. You give them the details by phone and they send the completed forms to your Spanish address. Make sure to take a copy as you will need it to get health care during visits to UK.
You then need to complete a form EX21 and make an appointment to process it. Quite daunting if you don't speak Spanish. This is where a good agent comes in who can complete all the forms, make the appointment and accompany you to the foreigner's office or National police station. One way services have been mentioned but there are several around who will do it for you.
Time, though, is running out. There are less than 4 months until UK permanently leaves the EU and things will change dramatically especially with the humming and hahring from Bojo at the moment about the withdrawal agreement. Income requirements, tax requirements and so on will all change.
Good news is that if you apply for residency and have the application lodged that that is your intention before December 31st this year, you will have up until July 1st 2021 to process the application under the same rules. That is why an agent is important as they will know the procedures for doing so.
Residency is not a means to simply have longer holidays in Spain. It is a commitment to actually live here and you should spend most of your time here. If you are not going to make Spain your main residence (with all the implications on owning property in UK, taxation and so on) then you may have to simply limit your stays to less than 3 months at a time for twice a year.