Moving from uk to Spain

Hi Sarah,

Congratulations on your purchase!

I'm sure you know that a month is a long time where Covid is concerned.  At the moment, Omicron is classified by the WHO as a "variant of concern", but it seems that some governments have at last learned from the mistakes of the past and are responding quickly to the potential new threat.  However, while entry to most European countries has been closed for South Africa and other African countries, there is currently no suggestion that this will be applied more widely in Europe.

From 1 to 31 December, Spain has stipulated that only vaccinated travellers from Third Countries will be allowed to enter Spain, so as long as you're both vaccinated, that won't be a problem.  Also, while the European Medicines Agency has now approved the use of Covid vaccines in 5 to 11 year olds, there is currently no suggestion that this will be mandated for Third Country nationals.  I expect it will happen at some point, but as your little ones are only 1 and 4, hopefully this won't be an issue for you in January.

In the meantime, it's a case of seeing how things develop with the new variant.  No-one can predict future lockdowns and border closures, but a positive this time around is that the customs and border difficulties experienced by haulage companies, caused by Brexit at the beginning of the year, have been largely mitigated.  So, as long as borders remain open your plans should be unaffected - but don't forget your masks! 😷😉

Best wishes,

Kim

I can remember that people who were moving to live in Spain permanently were able to complete the move under "force majeure" but I'm not sure if moving goods to a holiday home would qualify. I would suggest finding a key holding business who can be present to take delivery and at least get things in the right rooms for you in the worse case scenario.  Having a keyholder is something you may want to consider long term so they can make regular checks on the property and be available should something go wrong.
Saying that, and adding to Kim's post, Spain's Covid figures are very low at the moment and I feel the current measures are not only a reaction to the new variant but to avoid a Christmas and New Year explosion of cases not only from visitors but with the general population. 

Your question(s) contradict the title of "moving from UK to Spain"

Are you MOVING to Spain or simply transporting some of your 'stuff' to a holiday home?

I was asking if anyone had any experience of fully moving to Spain during previous lockdown to see if I could find out if there was any particular wording or proof that they need to provide.

We aren’t just moving a few bits, we’ve paid a professional moving company to transport everything we need for a 2 bedroom apartment out to Spain including some elements for a kitchen refit that my husband will be doing while we’re there. It’s currently sat in a storage unit that we only have for a certain amount of time so I’d like to be as prepared as possible for any paperwork we may need to given that solicitors may well shut down over Christmas.

Hi Sarah,

I've had experience of two couples doing this during last year's lockdown - another member of this forum and a friend.  In both cases, I drafted letters for their lawyers and (former) employers to issue on letterhead paper, should they be challenged at the border.  They were challenged, but were ultimately allowed to enter Spain; however, in both cases, they were moving to Spain permanently and I think that is the crucial point - neither had homes to return to in the UK and were applying for residency in Spain.

Your original post says that the property is your holiday home - during last year's lockdown, only Spanish citizens and residents were allowed to enter Spain, but not holiday home owners.  Currently, that is not the case.  Scientists are saying that it could take between 3 and 6 weeks to determine the impact of the Omicron variant, so hopefully we will have a better idea of how this is developing before Christmas 🤞

Kind regards,

Kim

Thank you!

Here’s hoping the impact of this latest strain is low and we can all head into a happy and healthy new year.

I’m very much worrying out loud here I’m afraid 🙈