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Thinking of buying in Spain

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 4:30pm
24 replies866 views8 members subscribed
COLVIC

Posts: 15

9 helpful points

Location: Benidorm

Joined: 4 May 2022

Hello, Has anyone here bought a Spanish property since Brexit?

We were intending to buy an apartment or villa but decided that with the 90 day rule it probably wasn’t worth it.

We are both retired and the plan was to spend the winter months in Spain and the three warmer months in the UK, but now we could only spend 90 ‘winter’ days each year in Spain leaving the property unused for ¾ of the year.

We are again considering buying (or renting) and getting an annual Spanish Visa, which is expensive with the health insurance etc. and possible tax on our pensions.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions please?


tebo53

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 4:47pm

tebo53

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 4779

4962 helpful points

Location: Benidorm

Joined: 29 May 2018

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 4:47pm

COLVIC wrote on Wed May 4, 2022 4:30pm:

Hello, Has anyone here bought a Spanish property since Brexit?

We were intending to buy an apartment or villa but decided that with the 90 day rule it probably wasn’t worth it.

We are both retired and the plan was to spend the winter months in Spain and the three warmer months in the UK, but now we could only spend 90 ‘winter’ days each year in Spain leaving the property unused for ¾ of the year.

We are again considering buying (or renting) and getting an annual Spanish Visa, which is expensive with the health insurance etc. and possible tax on our pensions.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions please?


What do you mean by an "annual visa"?

There are no visas that are annual. 

If you apply for the non lucrative visa you are required to apply for residency within the first month of arrival otherwise it will be void after the 90 day limit.

Steve 

Cheryl

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 5:43pm

Cheryl

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 2973

3533 helpful points

Location: Albatera

Joined: 8 Jun 2017

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 5:43pm

tebo53 wrote on Wed May 4, 2022 4:47pm:

What do you mean by an "annual visa"?

There are no visas that are annual. 

If you apply for the non lucrative visa you are required to apply for residency within the first month of arrival otherwise it will be void after the 90 day limit.

Steve 

To add to Steve's post you will also be limited to a maximum of 6 months out of Spain in one block in the first 5 years and a total of 10 months in all. You would also (at the moment) have to take a Spanish driving test within 6 months of getting Residency and become tax resident in Spain. 

PedroB

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 5:52pm

PedroB

Helpful member

Posts: 454

359 helpful points

Location: Salinas

Joined: 27 Mar 2021

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 5:52pm

COLVIC wrote on Wed May 4, 2022 4:30pm:

Hello, Has anyone here bought a Spanish property since Brexit?

We were intending to buy an apartment or villa but decided that with the 90 day rule it probably wasn’t worth it.

We are both retired and the plan was to spend the winter months in Spain and the three warmer months in the UK, but now we could only spend 90 ‘winter’ days each year in Spain leaving the property unused for ¾ of the year.

We are again considering buying (or renting) and getting an annual Spanish Visa, which is expensive with the health insurance etc. and possible tax on our pensions.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions please?


The 90 day rule is in a rolling 180 days. Not 90 days per year. 

Darro

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 6:01pm

Darro

Super helpful member

Posts: 1454

1260 helpful points

Location: Catral

Joined: 8 Sep 2021

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 6:01pm

Probably confused about the NLV.

While you could use that to stay for a first year it's absolutely not a long term 'workaround' for the 90 day rule, no viable route around that exists.

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tebo53

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 6:14pm

tebo53

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 4779

4962 helpful points

Location: Benidorm

Joined: 29 May 2018

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 6:14pm

Darro wrote on Wed May 4, 2022 6:01pm:

Probably confused about the NLV.

While you could use that to stay for a first year it's absolutely not a long term 'workaround' for the 90 day rule, no viable route around that exists.

The NLV is only valid for a year if you apply for residency within the first month otherwise it becomes invalid.

Steve 

Kimmy11

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 8:08pm

Kimmy11

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 6869

12554 helpful points

Joined: 8 Aug 2017

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 8:08pm

Hi Colvic and welcome to the forum,

I think you've been misinformed about the Schengen 90/180 rule.  It means you can stay in Spain for 90 days in a rolling 180 days, so you could stay for a maximum of 2 x 90 days period, but the 90 days limit applies to all Schengen countries, so if you were to travel by road via France, the 90 days countdown starts from when you arrive in France, rather than Spain.   You would also need to remember that any other European trips, say, a long weekend in Italy, would also count towards your 2 x 90 days allowance.

For example, you could come to Spain for, say, November, December and January (90 days), 

you would then need to return to the UK for February, March and April (90 days), 

then you could come back to Spain for May, June and July (90 days), 

then return to the UK August, September and October (90 days).

Of course, you don´t need to stay for the maximum 90 days each time, I just used the above example because it´s easier to understand.  Another example could also be to alternate 30 days in Spain, 30 days in the UK, throughout the year.  You may find it helpful to play around with a Schengen calculator, to see how it works:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator/

Kind regards,

Kim

COLVIC

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 8:57pm

COLVIC

Original Poster

Posts: 15

9 helpful points

Location: Benidorm

Joined: 4 May 2022

Posted: Wed May 4, 2022 8:57pm

Kimmy11 wrote on Wed May 4, 2022 8:08pm:

Hi Colvic and welcome to the forum,

I think you've been misinformed about the Schengen 90/180 rule.  It means you can stay in Spain for 90 days in a rolling 180 days, so you could stay for a maximum of 2 x 90 days period, but the 90 days limit applies to all Schengen countries, so if you were to travel by road via France, the ...

...90 days countdown starts from when you arrive in France, rather than Spain.   You would also need to remember that any other European trips, say, a long weekend in Italy, would also count towards your 2 x 90 days allowance.

For example, you could come to Spain for, say, November, December and January (90 days), 

you would then need to return to the UK for February, March and April (90 days), 

then you could come back to Spain for May, June and July (90 days), 

then return to the UK August, September and October (90 days).

Of course, you don´t need to stay for the maximum 90 days each time, I just used the above example because it´s easier to understand.  Another example could also be to alternate 30 days in Spain, 30 days in the UK, throughout the year.  You may find it helpful to play around with a Schengen calculator, to see how it works:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/visa-calculator/

Kind regards,

Kim

Thanks Kim,

                       I understand the 90/180 day rule, but I was trying to explain that we just want to escape the UK winter months October - March and we would only be able to take 90 days of that. We would not want to spend much time in Spain in the English summer because it is very nice in the UK then - normaly

                        

Davebev1

Posted: Thu May 5, 2022 9:45am

Davebev1

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 1560

2200 helpful points

Location: Playa Flamenca

Joined: 7 Nov 2017

Posted: Thu May 5, 2022 9:45am

COLVIC wrote on Wed May 4, 2022 8:57pm:

Thanks Kim,

                       I understand the 90/180 day rule, but I was trying to explain that we just want to escape the UK winter months October - March and we would only be able to take 90 ...

...days of that. We would not want to spend much time in Spain in the English summer because it is very nice in the UK then - normaly

                        

Hi

Sadly the answer is that you cannot spend the full winter in Spain anymore, obviously because of the UK becoming a third country on brexit.  The "annual visa" doesn't exist, you either apply for residency, with all that that entails and means you will live in Spain, or you have to comply with a max 90 days per 180 (as already said, include travelling days and visits to other Schengen countries).  This is assuming that you both have UK passports and neither of you has a EU passport, such as Irish.

With regard to renting v buying, if you are only going to spend one block of 90 days in Spain each year then it may be better to look at renting.  You are coming for a max stay holiday so would need to rent a licensed holiday let but many owners will give a big discount for a long stay if you ask, not charge the weekly rate.  If you prefer to have your own home you would be able to use the property at other times as well, as long as careful about when to ensure you stay within the Schengen rules, or rent out the property as a holiday let over the summer months when you are not there.  If the latter that does mean buying a property that is eligible for a Tourist License and complying with all the License requirements (inc tax).  

Suehan

Posted: Sat May 7, 2022 1:06am

Posts: 13

7 helpful points

Location: La Zenia

Joined: 27 Mar 2022

Posted: Sat May 7, 2022 1:06am

Davebev1 wrote on Thu May 5, 2022 9:45am:

Hi

Sadly the answer is that you cannot spend the full winter in Spain anymore, obviously because of the UK becoming a third country on brexit.  The "annual visa" doesn't exist, you either apply for residency, with all that that entails and means you will live in Spain, or you have to comply wit...

...h a max 90 days per 180 (as already said, include travelling days and visits to other Schengen countries).  This is assuming that you both have UK passports and neither of you has a EU passport, such as Irish.

With regard to renting v buying, if you are only going to spend one block of 90 days in Spain each year then it may be better to look at renting.  You are coming for a max stay holiday so would need to rent a licensed holiday let but many owners will give a big discount for a long stay if you ask, not charge the weekly rate.  If you prefer to have your own home you would be able to use the property at other times as well, as long as careful about when to ensure you stay within the Schengen rules, or rent out the property as a holiday let over the summer months when you are not there.  If the latter that does mean buying a property that is eligible for a Tourist License and complying with all the License requirements (inc tax).  

The 90/180 rule also applies to Irish passport’s as well 

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