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BREXIT: Brits in Spain offered help with residency applications

The British Foreign Office has announced funding for organisations to provide practical support to UK nationals who may have difficulty completing their residency application or registration in Spain.

Published: 22 July 2020 12:31 CEST

BREXIT: Brits in Spain offered help with residency applications

Photo: AFP

The UK government has allocated £3 million for charities and organisations to provide practical support for UK nationals living in Spain as well as France, Germany, Cyprus, Italy and several other EU countries.

The funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is meant primarily for those who need additional help.

This may include pensioners, disabled people, people living in remote areas or who have mobility difficulties as well as Brits who don't speak Spanish and need language translation or interpretation support.

The services available for people who need this additional support include:

– Answering questions about residency applications, such as the documents required and application procedure
– Guiding individuals through the process, if necessary
– Supporting people facing language barriers or difficulty accessing technology.

In Spain, this support is being provided by three organisations: The International Organisation for Migration will cover Andalusia, Madrid and Murcia, Babelia will cover Alicante, and Age in Spain will cover Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

READ MORE:

Q&A: What Brits in Spain need to know about the new Brexit-friendly residency card

What are the steps to apply for a TIE residency card in Spain?

If you or someone you know may have difficulty completing the paperwork, you can contact them using the details below to discuss how they may be able to help you.

IOM – The International Organisation for Migration (Andalusia, Madrid and Murcia)

Visit the IOM Spain website here

Email: [email protected]

Helplines: Andalusia: +34 650 339 754, Madrid: +34 699 581 855, Murcia: +34 648 642 543, all available Mon to Thurs, 3.30pm to 5pm

Babelia (Alicante)

Visit the Babelia website here

Email: [email protected]

Helpline: +34 865 820 229 available Mon to Fri, 9am to 2pm

Babelia contact form here

Age in Spain (Catalonia and Balearic Islands)

Visit the Age in Spain website here

Email: [email protected]

Age in Spain contact form here

Helpline: +34 932 20 97 41 available Mon to Fri, 11am to 1pm

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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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