HEALTHPLAN MAGAZINE

Second-home owners in the Marina Alta area of the Alicante province have launched a campaign to extend the 90-day limit, which currently applies to UK citizens in Spain post-Brexit.

The current legislation dictates that a British citizen including those with second homes in Spain may only stay for up to three months in any 180 day period.

Any British nationals who are not legally resident in Spain and are caught exceeding the 90-day limit face a potential fine of up to 2,500 Euros.

In an interview with Xabia al Dia, one of the campaigners opposed to the restriction, Peter Wilkinson said he had a property in the Denia region of Spain for 16 years saying that British second homeowners "payout local taxes in Spain".

Wilkinson stressed that since January 1, British visitors to Spain can only spend a maximum of 90 days in Spain or another European country within any 180 day period.

The problem Mr Wilkinson and many other Brits share is that he has family members also living in France. Visiting them will also eat into his 90-day allowance making things very difficult. He said, "If we have to go see them, that period is also deducted from us".

Mr Wilkinson explained that although Spanish residency was an option for some Brits, it wasn't possible for both him and his wife as they both worked in the UK. It is estimated that there are some 80,000 other British nationals in a similar situation.

Many British second homeowners are clearly upset about the restrictions and plan to lobby both the British and Spanish governments in an attempt to get them to agree to a bilateral agreement to remove the restrictions. The group have also set up a Facebook group page called '180 days in Spain' which they will use to campaign about the issue.

The group proposes that UK citizens should be able to visit Spain and other EU member countries flexibly for up to six months per year, "whenever they wish, over and above any other allowance for visits to other Schengen countries".

In a bid to raise awareness of the issue, Wilkinson has even contacted local mayors within the region as well as the UK's Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott.

He said that Mr Elliott was "sincere" in his response, but confessed that he did "not see that in the short term a solution can be found".

However, he did assure Mr Wilkinson that the Embassy was continually working with their Spanish counterparts on the matter.

Source

https://xabiaaldia.com/los-ingleses-que-residen-en-la-marina-alta-queremos-seguir-disfrutando-de-esta-zona/
https://murciatoday.com/brits_in_marina_alta_launch_campaign_to_extend_90_day_stay_1655479-a.html

Image Credit: Xabia al Dia