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Will Britons resident in Spain still get healthcare after Brexit?

This is one of the questions that is most concerning to Brits living in Spain, especially the huge number of residents who have retired here and are relying on free access to Spain’s health service.

Published: 28 February 2019 09:05 CET

Will Britons resident in Spain still get healthcare after Brexit?

Photo: everythingposs/Depositphotos

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, reciprocal healthcare arrangements will not automatically survive.

“We are in a situation now where many of our fellow-citizens living in Spain or France do not know in just over 40 days time whether they will have any health cover,” Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative chair of the House of Commons health select committee told the BBC earlier in February.

But the good news is that the UK has been exploring options with different member states, including Spain, to ensure UK nationals living in the EU can continue to access healthcare, even in a no deal scenario.

The Spanish are also preparing measures on healthcare to be included in their Real Decreto – a new that will be passed in the coming days that contains contingency plans in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

The expectation is that their proposal will reciprocate the offer already made to EU nationals living in the UK, which is that they can continue receiving their healthcare as now.

Spain to pass new law to protect rights of Britons in case of no-deal Brexit

EHIC card

The important thing to remember is that UK nationals who rely on their EHIC card if they fall ill will NOT be covered in case of a no-deal Brexit.

While that isn’t a worry for those who live in Spain and have a Spanish health card, it is something to warn visitors and relatives who might be coming to stay for any period of time.

The UK government have therefore advised that UK residents travelling to Spain after March 29th ensure they have comprehensive travel insurance to cover any medical treatment they might need whilst on holiday

Those who are living in Spain and are entitled to one can apply for a Spanish EHIC card that will mean they can access necessary healthcare in other EU countries, useful if you plan to pop over for a holiday in Italy or France.

An orderly Brexit

If the UK leaves the EU with Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement, then after March 29th 2019 UK nationals in EU countries would continue to receive state healthcare on the same terms as they are currently entitled.

So those pensioners who have cover under the S1 scheme and those will be eligible for one when they retire, will continue to have their healthcare funded by the UK. For British workers in Spain who pay into the national health scheme then, the rules will remain as they are now.

A transition period until December 2020 means Britons who move to Spain before that date will also be covered.

What the scenario will be for Brits who arrive in Spain after 2020 depends on future negotiations between the EU and the UK.

In the event of a No-Deal will the S1 for pensioners still be valid?

If you are working in Spain and paying social security contributions to Spain, you would still be able to access state-funded healthcare. And Brexit, deal or No-Deal, won’t change that.

But one of the biggest concerns is what will happen to UK pensioners living elsewhere in the EU who currently benefit from the S1 certificate, which means they are entitled to the same healthcare as nationals of the countries in which they live.

But it's not just for pensioners but also some others with exportable benefits, frontier workers and posted workers for an initial period.

In the event of a No-Deal Brexit then theoretically the S1 arrangement would automatically cease to apply but in Spain’s new Brexit contingency plan law – which is due to be signed on Friday March 1st – the Spanish government guarantees that the same conditions will be applied until December 2020.

Basically, if you were entitled to access Spanish healthcare based on an S1 certificate before March 29th 2019, then you can legitimately continue for another 21 months.

However, this has to be reciprocated by the British authorities towards Spanish citizens in UK or the measure will be suspended within two months.

More information:

Check in regularly to the FCO website Living in Spain HERE and their Facebook page HERE

For more about healthcare in Spain check out the FCO guidance page HERE and the NHS guidelines for travelling abroad HERE.

Visit the Spanish government dedicated Brexit information page HERE

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INTERVIEW: 'A lot of people think Brexit is done, but it's not for Brits in Europe'

In the early days of 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the EU and completed the final stage of Brexit, many British citizens returned to their home countries in Europe only to face a grilling at the border.

Though the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) technically guaranteed their right to live and work in the countries they’d settled in before Brexit, there was widespread confusion about these fundamental rights and many were treated like new arrivals.

Over time, the chaos at the airports subsided as border officials and airlines were given clearer guidance on the treatment of Brits. But three years later, a number of Brits who live on the continent still face problems when it comes to proving their post-Brexit rights.

This was the reason campaign group British in Europe decided to set up their new EU-funded ICE project. Starting this year in March, it aims to build valuable connections between UK citizens abroad and mentor the next generation of civil rights advocates around the continent. The acronym stands for ‘Inform, Empower, Connect’ and the project’s organisers describe it as “the first project of its kind”.

“It’s a completely innovative project – especially the fact that it’s across so many countries,” Jane Golding, chair of British in Europe and one of the project’s founders, told The Local.

Bringing together groups from 11 EU member states, the project aims to train up volunteers to understand both the Withdrawal Agreement and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as learning skills like advocacy and communication, using real-life civil rights cases that are referred to British in Europe.

“The ultimate goal is to amplify the messages across the wider group,” said Golding. “You start with the volunteers, they go back to their groups, then the people that we train, they go back and train people. Then they pass on that knowledge to the wider groups, on their Facebook accounts and through social media, and hopefully it all snowballs, not just in their countries but across the EU.”

‘Far-reaching repercussions’

So many years after Brexit, it’s hard to believe that there’s still a need for a project like ICE that empowers Brits to protect their rights. Indeed, the future of groups like British in Europe and regional groups like British in Germany and Spain-based group EuroCitizens felt uncertain just a year or two ago.

But Golding says there are still serious issues cropping up for Brits in several countries around Europe – they just have a different quality to the problems that arose at the start.

“In some ways it’s needed even more because as we predicted right at the beginning, at the first stage of implementation, you’ve got the more routine cases,” she explained.

“What we’re seeing now is not as many cases, but when the cases come up, they’re complex. They can have such far-reaching repercussions on people’s lives. And of course, memories start to fade. A lot of people think Brexit is already done, but it’s not.”

Volunteers in British in Europe ICE project

The volunteers of the British in Europe ICE project pose for a photo at the kick-off meeting in Brussels on May 21st, 2024. Photo courtesy of British In Europe

Though the rights set out in the Withdrawal Agreement apply across the continent, different countries have taken different approaches to implementing them.

That means that while in Germany, for example, UK citizens simply had to declare that they lived in the country, people in neighbouring Denmark had to apply for their rights.

This led to a notorious situation in Denmark in which as many as 2,000 Brits were threatened with deportation after not applying in time or completing the right application process. According to Golding, this had a lot to do with the fact that people who arrived in 2020 weren’t given the same information as other UK migrants who arrived before.

In Sweden, meanwhile, the situation is still difficult for many Brits who lived there prior to Brexit.

“There have been issues with an anomalously high numbers of refusals compared to other countries, and they seem to be taking a very strict approach on late applications,” Golding explained.

Portugal has been another difficult case. Although the country opted for a declaratory system where Brits could simply exchange old residence documents for a new ID card after Brexit, reports suggest that the authorities have taken years to issue these cards, leaving many of the some 34,000 Brits in the country in limbo.

“While people are still waiting to have their status confirmed and have their card in their hand, it’s difficult to access a whole range of services, like health services, or applying for jobs or dealing with the authorities, or even going to the bank,” Golding said. “All of these problems just affect people’s lives.”

A French border guard checks a passport at the border

A French border guard checks a passport at the border. Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP

There are also concerns about the EU’s new exit and entry system (EES), due to come into force in October, which is based on biometric documentation.

“We still do not have clear data on how many people in declaratory countries like Germany, where it wasn’t compulsory to apply for the card, don’t actually have a card,” Golding said. “How is that going to play out if it’s a document-based digitalised system?”

A lack of support

In the immediate aftermath of Brexit, funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) was still available to support NGOs in Europe helping Brits with their migration and civil rights issues. But that temporary funding soon expired, leaving groups like British in Europe largely on their own.

“The whole point is people’s lives change at very different paces,” Golding said. “And now this project is really going to start to pick up some of those cases and report on those issues, which is really crucial and exciting for the precedent that it sets, and it’s very clearly necessary still, because people don’t just sort their lives in the 18 months that the FCDO chose to supply that funding.”

This feeling of being left alone and increasingly isolated from the UK is one that many Brits in Europe have felt in the aftermath of Brexit. But the upcoming UK election on July 4th could be a game-changer.

This time, following a change in the law, Brits who have lived abroad for more than 15 years will be able to vote for the first time.

Polling station in the UK

A polling station in the UK. Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

When it comes to the election, the message from British in Europe is clear: “Make your voice count now, make your vote count, make sure you use it,” Golding said.

With the June 18th registration deadline fast approaching, BiE is advising UK citizens abroad to apply for a proxy vote as soon as possible, rather than relying on a postal vote from abroad. Since the 15-year rule was abolished on January 16th, more than 100,000 British citizens have registered to vote, according to official statistics. It is unclear how many were registered before the change in the law.

With an estimated 4.7 million Brits currently living abroad – 1.3 million of whom are in the EU – this could have a significant impact on the electoral landscape, Golding says. But most significantly, the change is creating a feeling of connection and belonging that wasn’t there before.

Nurturing this sense of belonging is one of the main goals of ICE.

With these bridges being built, British in Europe hopes to create a network of support that spans across borders.

“Now we’ve met. We’re going to meet,” said Golding. “We know we’re going to meet again in Berlin in October and then we’ll meet again in the new year in 2025 as well. It means a huge amount because even British in Europe, our steering team, we’ve only met physically three times.”

This opens up the possibility of people sharing their knowledge from country to country, Golding explained.

“There is crossover and the reassurance of having that EU wide view and knowing that you’re not alone and knowing that in this country, we managed to get this solution,” she said. “And then you can go back and say to the authorities in your country, well, in that country they did that – all of that helps. It’s really good.”

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