Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2024 7:11pm
Except those rules were made, and voted for by the UK's elected MEPs, when the UK was part of the EU. So the UK cannot claim to have no responsibility for those particular rules. Also the 90/180 excludes certain EU countries and includes some non-EU countries as it's a Schengen wide rule.
Also bear in mind that any EU national staying longer than 3 months continuously in Spain under Spanish law should register their presence, have suitable health insurance and be able to prove they can support themselves. The fact that this is not widely enforced, and therefore Brits openly ignored the Spanish law when EU members, doesn't change the fact that the law exists. Plus the existence of the 183 days stay in Spain per year resulting in automatic tax residency.
I agree that the 90/180 as opposed to the more flexible 182/365 is disappointing for some people, but those rules already existed and anyone who voted to leave the EU knew (or claimed to know) what they were voting for, so got what they wanted, so can't complain. For those of us who didn't vote for it, well we've been lumbered with the new situation and have no choice but to make it work. The vast majority of tourists only come for a fortnight or so a year, it's mainly only the retirees that stay longer, so the parts of the Spanish economy dependent on tourism isn't affected by a comparatively small number Brits no longer illegally overstaying.