Spanish residency and Brexit
Should I organise my Spanish residency before the 29 march 2019?
The 29th March 2019 is fast approaching and yet things are still not clear regarding Brexit and the status of UK residents in Spain. The UK Government and the EU have a draft deal in place called the Withdrawal Agreement. If the UK leaves the EU with an agreed deal then this agreement will come into effect. Should the UK leave the EU without an agreement then the Withdrawal agreement is null and void.
What is the Withdrawal Agreement?
The Withdrawal Agreement is designed to protect the rights of UK nationals living in Europe and those rights of EU nationals living in the UK after the UK leaves the EU. An implementation phase would run from the 29 March 2019 until 31 December 2020. During that period free movement of people and goods would continue.
UK nationals would continue to enjoy broadly the same access to healthcare, pensions and other benefits as they do now. 
What if the UK and the EU cannot agree?
In the case where the UK leaves the EU without an agreement then of course the withdrawal agreement does not come into affect. What happens to UK nationals in the EU and Spain in particular in our case? The short answer is no one really knows. One hopes that despite the usual rhetoric and posturing to a certain type of voter by national governments,
common sense will prevail. However, no one can say exactly how this will pan out.
Should I organise my Spanish residency now?
If you have lived in Spain for more than three months then you should already have applied for residency in Spain. If not now might be a good time to do it, if your intention is to stay.
Should the withdrawal agreement not come into affect then the 29 March 2019 may become a significant date. This is speculation but if you have your house in order prior to the UK leaving is it not reasonable to assume that you might be in a stronger position to stay in Spain than if you haven’t?
If you would like to discuss Spanish Residency and the health insurance that could be obligatory as part of the application then please get in touch.
