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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Brexit: ‘So many questions, but still no answers’

David Sparks, 78, moved from his native Bedfordshire in the UK to Murcia in southern Spain 12 years ago to enjoy what he hoped would be a peaceful worry-free retirement in the sun. More than two years after Britain voted for Brexit in June 2016 and with the March 29th deadline approaching fast, The Local asked how Brexit was affecting him and those around him.

Published: 18 October 2018 16:34 CEST
Brexit: 'So many questions, but still no answers'
Photo: AFP

I have been asked the following questions many times. As a UK immigrant in Spain and resident have you concerns or worries about Brexit and what are they?  

If you have no concerns what are your reasons?  Have you prepared for a no deal Brexit or a possible deal? If so, what have you done and why?  Finally, how are you coping with all the daily media talk about Brexit?

Personally, I don’t worry about my own situation regarding Brexit; it does not give me sleepless nights.

Right to reside?

I have been a permanent resident for 12 years and I feel that after Brexit my residency will be continued. However, I have deep concerns that after March 29th next year I will no longer be a European Citizen.

At the moment I am registered as an EU citizen in Spain, but after March 2019 I will become an alien and would have to register as such.

Will Spain accept me as such without additional conditions of residency which apply to an alien but not an EU citizen?

If there is a transitional period with a Brexit deal then the last PP government said that we would be able to continue just the same as an EU citizen, but I still do not know if the new government will honour that promise. If I had to re-register to be a resident in Spain as an alien then financially I could not meet the conditions and would have to leave Spain.

Pensions

Another concern is that of UK pensions being able to be transferred from the UK.

The UK government have said that the OAP will be paid as it is now to Spain. What they have not said is whether the pension is going to be frozen with no more annual inflation increases.

We still do not know. If they are frozen then life will become more difficult financially. The main pension concern is that of private pensions being paid by insurance companies directly into Spain as the EU conditions and agreements will no longer exist.

Healthcare is also an issue

Everyone has the right to emergency care in Spain. but what about universal healthcare? Photo: gioiak2/Depositphotos

The UK government has said that the healthcare agreement with Spain will continue as that is not an EU issue, but between individual countries.

Those pensioners with an SP1 will continue to receive care. A qualification for residency is proof of adequate healthcare insurance with either a SP1 or private policy.However in July 2018 the Spanish government made a law that all people living in Spain should receive free healthcare. The only problem is that it was left to each autonomous region to enact the law, and many have not.

Freedom of movement is also a concern.

Will I have the ability to work,travel and live in other European countries as I can now?  At the moment it is easy and straight forward to fly to the UK, but what conditions will apply if there is no deal? The media reports that aircraft will be grounded as they would no longer have the EU licenses to fly into Europe.

In June 2017 I was concerned how the Brexit negotiations were going. The UK promised that the first subject on the agenda would be the rights of all UK citizens resident in the EU being continued and maintained.

This has not been the case. Promises were made in words not a signed written agreement.


Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the European Council in Brussels on October 17th for Brexit negotiations. Photo: AFP

The UK PM later inferred that the rights of EU citizens in the UK and those of UK citizens in the EU would be reciprocal, but we have heard little about how this will apply. 

I therefore felt I had to take some action and get involved somehow with protecting the rights of UK immigrants resident in Spain.

With a friend I created a Facebook group called “Brexit in Spain” and become a voice for our rights to be maintained. We now have 441 members and growing. It is also a help group and we try our best to find answers to their questions.

I asked the group how they felt about Brexit and these were some of the comments.

“I am frightened and angry. I fear the UK is preparing for war in Europe”.

“I have changed my nationality to Irish which lessons a lot of the worry”

“I feel as though my arm is twisted up my back, but I want to stay European”

“I am very concerned. I feel that Brexit has dominated my life for the last  two odd years and I know that I am not alone”

To sum up, Brexit has and is causing confusion for many UK immigrants resident in Spain. There are so many questions unanswered. The overriding feeling is that of insecurity; We are almost two years into the process and “We still do not know”. 

David Sparks, 78, moved from Bedfordshire to Totana in Murcia 12 years ago with his wife. He worked with expat charity MABS, which offers cancer support and set up the Brexit in Spain facebook group for those concerned about rights of those UK immigrants resident in Spain after Brexit. 

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RESIDENCY PERMITS

Why is it so hard to get an appointment at some of Spain’s foreigner offices?

One of the reasons Brits in Spain say they haven't got a TIE residency card yet is the apparent impossibility of getting an appointment at their local extranjería office or police station. So is there any truth to this?

Published: 17 May 2024 10:34 CEST
Why is it so hard to get an appointment at some of Spain's foreigner offices?

Anyone who has tried to do anything official in Spain will be well aware of the dreaded cita previa system, whereby they must first make an appointment.

For foreign residents, this is not a simple task. It’s not just a question of simply making an appointment as more often than not, there aren’t any available.

And it’s not like you can just log-on a day later and find more. Many people spend weeks or even months trying to make these appointments, so they can carry out mandatory bureaucratic procedures.

These appointments are needed for everything from applying for or renewing your TIE if you’re non-EU to getting your EU green residency card. They’re needed again when going in for fingerprinting or even just trying to pick up your card once it’s ready.

Earlier this week, the British Embassy in Madrid stressed that it’s “really important” that the 200,000+ UK nationals in Spain with a green residency certificate exchange it for a TIE card “as soon as possible” to avoid issues with the EU’s new Entry-Exit System. 

READ ALSO – ‘Get the TIE now’: Brits in Spain urged to exchange residency document

The problem is that the exchange has never been made compulsory, only strongly encouraged and around half of British residents in Spain still haven’t gotten their TIE after Brexit.

In reaction to the announcement by the British Embassy, numerous British residents in Spain commented how hard it is get an appointment at their local police station or extranjería (foreign affairs) office.

Could the difficulty in getting an appointment be one of the reasons to blame for this?

So why are these cita previas so coveted and why are they so difficult to get?

Unfortunately, it’s not just a question of simple Spanish bureaucracy. There’s something slightly more sinister going on here. The fact of the matter is that if you go to certain relocation companies, firms and agencies they can get you an appointment straightaway – if you pay for it.

A year ago in May 2023, Spain arrested 69 people for blocking appointments at immigration offices. They were accused of booking up all the available appointments via a computer bot to later sell to foreigners to make a profit, despite the fact that this process should be free.

Arrests were carried out in Madrid, Albacete, Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Barcelona, ​​Vizcaya, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, the Balearic Islands, Marbella, Murcia, Tarragona, Tenerife, Toledo and Valencia, which gives us an idea of how widespread the illegal practice is.

Although Spanish police managed to dismantle this particular ring of criminals, it did not solve the problem.

Just seven months later in December 2023, ONG Movimiento Por la Paz (MPDL) confirmed to Levante news in Valencia that the ministry’s network had been hacked for two years and that it was unfair to foreigners who were being discriminated against because of it. 

They also claimed that the police and foreign ministry knew about the problem and still let it happen. 

Vincente Marín, CEO and lawyer for Parainmigrantes website aimed at foreign residents and those wanting Spanish nationality, confirmed this in a video he posted on the site.

He explained that bots hack into the system and that whenever appointments become available, they can book them up in seconds and then sell them on the black market for between €100 and €200, admitting it was a big problem for his firm too.

The initial screen of the appointment page (cita previa) on Spain’s extranjería website, and where many foreigners find it impossible to book residency official processes.

Fast forward to February 2024 and a group of lawyers and gestores from Castellón and Valencia denounced the system, saying that it was “controlled by criminal mafias”. They also cited the problem of bots hacking the system and complained that some of their clients still hadn’t been able to get appointments in five or six months.

In May of this year, the issue is still ongoing. Balearic news site Ultima Hora reported several readers who had been trying to get appointments for months in Mallorca and had been unsuccessful.

One has to get an appointment before her residency card runs out in June and was even considering paying an agency who were asking for €200 to help her get one.

Wherever there’s a sizable population of foreigners, from Barcelona to Valencia, the extranjería website has generally been ‘hacked by bots’.

In order to improve the situation more national police have been called in to work at the Immigration Office in Orihuela (Alicante) because of the number of foreigners living in the area. The police there have confirmed that they have allocated more resources for the issuance of documents too, to try and speed up processes. 

If you’re trying for an appointment the best option is to aim to not pay for one if you can help it, as you’re only fuelling the problem.

Reputable law firms may still be able to help you get one by dedicating more resources to applying for them manually, but you shouldn’t have to pay over the odds for what should be a free service. 

Here are our tips on how to get a cita previa when it seems impossible. 

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