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In pics: Spanish royals on parade during state visit to London

Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia are on their first state visit to the United Kingdom.

Published: 12 July 2017 14:48 CEST

In pics: Spanish royals on parade during state visit to London

The three-day state visit commenced on Wednesday with a parade up the Mall. Photos: AFP

The Mall was decorated with the Spanish flag and the Union Jack ahead of the three-day state visit designed to ephasize strong ties between the two kingdoms.

It is the first State visit by the Spanish royal family since King Juan Carlos visited in 1986.

READ MORE: Spain's King and Queen start state visit to UK amid Brexit tensions

The Life Guards, members of the household cavalry led the parade up The Mall to Buckingham Palace.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia were greeted by the Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. One kiss or two?

King Felipe and Queen Elizabeth are distant cousins as both descended from Queen Victoria.

Queen Letizia was a journalist and news presenter when she met the future King. She wore a yellow coat-dress by one of her favourite designer's Felipe Varela.

The Spanish couple were formally greeted by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on Horse Guards Parade before travelling up the Mall to Buckingham Palace where they had a private lunch.

It is expected to be 96-year-old Philip's last state visit before he retires from public duties in the autumn.

King Felipe suceeded to the throne in June 2014 after his aging father King Juan Carlos abdicated.

The Spanish King will make a speech to the British parliament this afternoon in which he is widely expected to mention the prickly subject of Gibraltar, a perennial thorn in the side of Anglo-Spanish relations and an issue that has promises to be at forefront of Brexit discussions between the two nations.

READ MORE: King Felipe urges end of 'colonial anachronism' of Gibraltar

FACT CHECK: Spain's '£97 daily rule' isn't new nor a worry for British tourists

American playwright Eugene O’Neill once said: “There is no present or future – only the past, happening over and over again – now”.

In 2022, The Local Spain wrote a fact-checking article titled ‘Are UK tourists in Spain really being asked to prove €100 a day?‘, in which we dispelled the claims made in the British press about Spain’s alleged new rules for UK holidaymakers.

Two years on in 2024, the same eye-catching headlines are resurfacing in Blighty: “’Anti-British? Holiday elsewhere!’ Britons fume as tourists in Spain warned they may be subject to additional rules” in GB News, or “’They would be begging us to come back’: Brits vow to ‘boycott Spain’ over new £97 daily rule” in LBC.

The return of this rabble-rousing ‘news’ in the UK has coincided with calls within Spain to change the existing mass tourism model that’s now more than ever having an impact on the country’s housing crisis.

Even though Spaniards behind the protests have not singled out any foreign nationals as potential culprits, the UK tabloids have unsurprisingly capitalised on this and run headlines such as “Costa del Sol turns on British tourists”.

READ MORE: Why does hatred of tourists in Spain appear to be on the rise?

What is the so-called ‘£97 daily rule’?

Yes, there is theoretically a ‘£97 a day rule’, but it is not a new rule, nor one that applies only to UK nationals specifically, and not even one that Spain alone has imposed (all Schengen countries set their financial means threshold).

As non-EU nationals who are not from a Schengen Area country either (the United Kingdom never was in Schengen), British tourists entering Spain could have certain requirements with which to comply if asked by Spanish border officials.

Such requirements include a valid passport, proof of a return ticket, documents proving their purpose of entry into Spain, limits on the amount of time they can spend in Spain (the 90 out of 180 days Schengen rule), proof of accommodation, a letter of invitation if staying with friends or family (another controversial subject in the British press when it emerged) and yes, proof of sufficient financial means for the trip.

Third-country nationals who want to enter Spain in 2024 may need to prove they have at least €113,40 per day (around £97), with a minimum of €972 (around £830) per person regardless of the intended duration of the stay. It is unclear whether this could also possibly apply to minors.

The amount of financial means to prove has increased slightly in 2024 as it is linked to Spain’s minimum wage, which has also risen.

Financial means can be accredited by presenting cash, traveller’s checks, credit cards accompanied by a bank account statement, an up-to-date bank book or any other means that proves the amount available as credit on a card or bank account.

Have Britons been prevented from entering Spain for not having enough money?

There is no evidence that UK holidaymakers have been prevented from entering Spain after not being able to show they have £97 a day to cover their stay, nor any reports that they have been asked to show the financial means to cover their stay either.

17.3 million UK tourists visited Spain in 2023; equal to roughly 47,400 a day.

Even though British tourists have to stand in the non-EU queue at Spanish passport control, they do not require a visa to enter Spain and the sheer number of UK holidaymakers means that they’re usually streamlined through the process, having to only quickly show their passports.

The only occasional hiccups that have arisen post-Brexit have been at the land border between Gibraltar and Spain (issued that are likely to be resolved soon), and these weren’t related to demonstrating financial means.

Therefore, the British press are regurgitating alarmist headlines that don’t reflect any truth, but rather pander to the ‘they need us more than we need them’ mantra that gets readers clicking.

To sum up, there is a £97 a day rule, but it is not new, it has not affected any British tourists to date, and it is not specific to Spain alone to potentially require proof of economic means.

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