New rules for UK residents visiting Spain

Hi Keeny,

Neither you, nor friends and family staying at your Spanish property, need what is called a Letter of Invitation, as UK citizens have a visa waiver for visiting the Schengen travel zone - see the following extract from the Spanish Government linked below:

"In compliance with EU Regulation 2018/1806 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 British passport holders travelling to Schengen countries for holidays, business or to visit family do not require a visa for stays of up to 90 days in a 180 day-period, provided the visit is not for gainful activity."

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/londres/en/Information-consular-services/Paginas/Visas/Visas-(FAQ).aspx

However, I believe the information on which press reports are based is the following extract from the Gov.UK website - note the use of the word "may" in the opening sentence:

"Additional documents required by tourists

At Spanish border control, you may need to:

• show a return or onward ticket
• show you have enough money for your stay
• show proof of accommodation for your stay, for example, a hotel booking confirmation, proof of address if visiting your own property (e.g. second home), or an invitation from your host or proof of their address if staying with a third party, friends or family. The Spanish government has clarified that the “carta de invitation” is one of the options available to prove that you have accommodation if staying with friends or family."

Thanks for that , didn’t notice the ‘May need’

Possibly a knock on effect to this.

https://murciatoday.com/british_tourists_travelling_to_spain_need_3_additional_documents_to_get_through_e_gates_1802843-a.html

I'm guessing you are talking about UK residents holding a UK passport.  My friend who is a UK resident but holds a Chinese passport requires a  Letter of Invitation in order to get a visa.

UK resident and passport holder yes

Hi Keeny,

As Geoff has advised, Chinese citizens would have to provide a letter of invitation because they are Third Country Nationals who do not have a visa waiver - as I said previously, UK citizens do have a visa waiver for entering Spain.  

That said, I'm betting that if a UK citizen arrives in Spain, stinking of Weed, with a backpack and €50 for a 2 week stay, and no return ticket, border control guards are going to ask for a Carta de Invitación! 😉  We had friends visiting us a couple of weeks ago for 10 days and they sailed through arrivals at Alicante with no issues.

Kind regards, 

Kim

 The following was posted on the N332 Facebook page on the 18th July 2022.

Brits in Spain*Info on passport validity for UK visitors to Spain*If you have friends and family from the UK coming to visit you in Spain, do make sure that they are aware of the rules on passport validity. Visitors from the UK must meet the Schengen area rules (https://ec.europa.eu/.../schengen.../schengen-area_en.)Passports must meet 2 requirements. They must be:

• less than 10 years old on the day you enter (check the ‘date of issue’)

• valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave (check the ‘expiry date’)

People should check both the issue date and the expiry date in their passport. If you renewed your passport early, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. These extra months do not count towards the validity needed and could affect whether your passport meets the requirement for your passport to be less than 10 years old.

I occasionally buy a one way ticket to my holiday home so does that mean I wouldn't be allowed entry?  I usually stay around 10 days but like the freedom to stay a few days longer or come home earlier.  Also how can you prove that you have the funds to cover your stay if you, like me use a Revolut card and only carry a small amount of cash?

As all my accounts are online I’ve taken photos of my credit card/current account statements, same with utility bills,

Not had to use them yet but you never know.

I would think it’s random checks otherwise it would take hours to check everyone, last time in June I didn’t even show my vaccination status